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Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide
 
 
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Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide [Paperback]

John Howard Reid (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Price: $17.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

March 14, 2008
Around 500 movies from the silent and early talkie era are now available on DVD. Of course this figure includes shorts as well as features, plus 40 or 50 films that are available in multiple versions.

This handbook, sub-titled "A Classic Movie Fan's Guide", provides detailed reviews of 178 of these movies, plus less comprehensive information on over 100 additional titles, dating from 1918 through 1933, that are now available to purchase in DVD format from various suppliers. (A few highly recommended firms are listed in the book).

Almost all the films reviewed are full-length features that showcase stars like Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, Louise Brooks, Charles Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Colleen Moore, Harold Lloyd, Gary Cooper, William Powell, Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Norma Shearer, Buster Keaton, Shirley Temple, Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Colman, Lillian Gish, Marion Davies, and Wallace Beery, who are still top favorites with all motion picture fans.

In addition, however, it's very pleasing to note that players like Laura La Plante, Charles Ray, Alice Terry, Pola Negri, Mary Miles Minter, Rod La Rocque, and Mabel Poulton are also featured on a large number of DVD discs. These stars were extraordinarily popular in their day and are just waiting to be re-discovered by today's movie lovers.

Current release information is provided for each film. And the DVD itself is rated for quality on a scale of one to ten. Purchasers will save the price of this book by following just one or two of the author's recommendations. It's disappointing to buy a DVD and then find the picture and/or sound quality is so poor that the movie cannot be enjoyed.

A further bonus is that the book has been illustrated with over 110 beautiful black-and-white photos from the Pattison Gallery of vintage movie stills, one of the best and largest private collections in the world.
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965, Second Edition $15.21

Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide + Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965, Second Edition

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Lulu.com (March 14, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1435710738
  • ISBN-13: 978-1435710733
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,985,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Howard Reid is the creator of Merryll Manning, the Miami-based police sergeant who made his debut in "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island". This book was followed by "Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders" and "Merryll Manning: Beachfront Holiday". Next up is "Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven."

All 12 books in the series were published overseas from 1985 through 2001. All, except "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island", were runaway bestsellers and ran through many editions, including hardcover, paperback (both trade and mass market) and Large Print.

All 12 novels except "Merryll Manning: Beyond Vengeance", on which the critics were divided, attracted highly favorable and indeed overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews. The author was favorably compared with both Agatha Christie and Graham Greene.

Reid's historical novels, especially "In All His Glory" (set in Ancient Egypt), have also won wide acclaim. His short stories and poems have gained many prizes and commendations. Published prose collections include "Mexican Autumn" and "Micaela Morris in Jo's Heaven". Poetry anthologies include "Anyone for Love?", "Escape to Paradise and Other Poetic Fancies" (published under his "Tom Howard" pseudonym) and "A Salute to Spanish Poetry: 100 Masterpieces from Spain and Latin America rendered into English verse."

Reid is also a widely acknowledged expert on Hollywood movies. His latest book in this field is "Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills".

 

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Essential, but with a few flaws, February 14, 2009
This review is from: Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide (Paperback)
The problem with any DVD catalog is that it ages quickly, with new releases coming out all of the time. However, for the fan of the silents and early talkies, this is a one of a kind find. The author has listed many films, both the well known and obscure, listed a synopsis and some interesting background information on the film, stars, and directors, and even included reproductions of old movie posters. Best of all, the author tells you where you can find these films on DVD, and the quality of the reproduction. The manufacturers are not limited to just the major studios, Kino, and Criterion. He also includes such vendors as Grapevine Video, which has been selling silents for over thirty years. In the back is listed those online vendors that the author considers to be reputable, which is very good information.

Now for my minor complaints. The author will have articles for films that, at the time this catalog was printed, have no DVD release at all. For example, he goes into great detail about Borzage's "Bad Girl", which is a great film, even though at the end of the article he mentions - correctly at the time - that there is no DVD release. However, even though the author says that vintagefilmbuff is a reliable DVD vendor, he doesn't mention any of the DVD's of the silent/early talkie era that this company has available. vintagefilmbuff has many of the early Paramount talkies on DVD-R at pretty good quality. For example, 1929's "The Virginian" is available from vintagefilmbuff.

There are other films that deserved mention that were omitted, such as 1929's "It's A Great Life" and "Lights of New York", the first all-talking picture. However, I still recommend it as a buyer's guide and just an all-around interesting read to those of us fascinated with the films of this much ignored era in Hollywood history.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Survey of Silent Masterpieces and Entertainments, November 7, 2008
By 
John Howard Reid (Wyong, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide (Paperback)
A few years ago, finding a silent movie on DVD was akin to discovering the philosopher's stone: Next to impossible! Now, however, over 500 silents are available. True, a great number of these are either collections of shorts or duplicates of titles already available. Nonetheless, in the space of a few years, silent films and early talking features are no longer a rarity. They can be obtained! This handbook not only provides a general survey of many of the feature films currently on offer, but also cast and credit details, plus, most importantly, the DVD distributor and the technical quality of his product.

In other words, this is a book that will save DVD buyers and collectors money -- not to mention the disappointment of finding a DVD "treasure", paying out good money for it, and then discovering the quality was so poor, the movie was virtually unwatchable.

As with my other movie books, such as those in the "Hollywood Classics" series like Hollywood's Classic Comedies featuring Slapstick, Romance, Music, Glamour or Screwball Fun! and SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY CINEMA: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural or GREAT HOLLYWOOD WESTERNS: Classic Pictures, Must-See Movies and 'B' Films, I have gone to a great deal of trouble not just to feature the familiar titles we all know, but to search out the more obscure movies that yet offer equally fabulous entertainment. Three of the many discoveries in this book, for example, are "No Man's Law" (1927), guaranteed to shock the most experienced viewer out of his socks; "The Notorious Lady" (also 1927), masterfully directed by King Baggot, a gem of silent cinema; and "Hotel Imperial" (also 1927), an absolutely stunning experience, directed by the great Mauritz Stiller. And the really good news is that all three of these wonderful movies are available on DVD in absolutely beautiful copies.

This book provides an invaluable guide not only to the movies you want to see like "Safety Last" and "Thief of Bagdad" and "Phantom of the Opera" (with details as to which of the available versions are of the finest quality and/or offer the most fascinating bonus items), but those you ought to see if, like me, you watch movies principally for entertainment.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not Indexed!, June 3, 2010
By 
Resurged (Newark, Delaware United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide (Paperback)
This book is not indexed, nor is there a table of contents. The films are arranged alphabetically by title, and that's it. There is no way to search for actors, movies of a specific genre, or anything else other than title. To me, this greatly diminishes the value of this as a reference. Also, it is not available as a Kindle book. At least if it was available on the Kindle, one could utilize the Kindle's search feature to look for actors, directors, studios, release dates, etc..
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dress parade, tinted stock, photographed stage play, tinted print, film editor, domestic rentals, acting honors, support cast, silent version, support players
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United Artists, Douglas Fairbanks, Best Picture, Cedric Gibbons, Sunrise Silents, Mary Pickford, Best Actress, Grand Hotel, Best Actor, Wallace Beery, Harold Lloyd, The Film Daily, Mark Strand, Douglas Shearer, Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, William Cameron Menzies, Joan Crawford, Lewis Stone, Carl Laemmle, Kodascope Library, Mordaunt Hall, Gary Cooper, Frank Capra
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