Silent Movies ─ The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture

Drawing on the Library of Congress's massive collection of silent films and film memorabilia, Silent Movies explores the fascinating world of silent film, from its birth in the 1890s with the earliest narrative shorts, to the brilliant full-length features of the 1920s. The producers, directors, and actors in silent movies created an art form and established a narrative and visual style that continue to this day. At the same time, silent movies created a new kind of celebrity - the movie star - and movie executives quickly learned how valuable a marketing vehicle the early stars could be. Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Harold Lloyd, John Gilbert, and dozens of others appear here in all their glory.
Silent Movies explores the birth of film technologies, including color photography and sound effects; the importance of silent movies from around the world; the innovation of marketing and promotion through posters, fan magazines, and lobby cards; the rise of the director, from D. W. Griffith to Erich von Stroheim to King Vidor; as well as the restoration work being spearheaded by the Library of Congress, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and others. Lavishly and lovingly illustrated with more than 400 posters, paper prints, film stills, and other images - most of which have never been published before - Silent Movies will take its place as the defining work on this fascinating aspect of American culture.

Peter Kobel is the former managing editor of Premiere magazine and has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Entertainment Weekly.