FAQ about silent film: Books and documentariesThis document is the third of four FAQs for the Usenet newsgroup alt.movies.silent, and contains information on books and documentaries about silent film. There is some overlap in the content of the FAQs. If you don't find what you're looking for here, try one of the related FAQs (see the last question for a complete list).
What are some good books about silent film?One recent series, the multivolume History of American Cinema, contains the most comprehensive history of American silent film ever published.
Here are a few more recommended books:
http://www.vex.net/~emily/film/books.html You can buy film books online at Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/ Unfortunately many excellent books on silent film are rare or out of print. Amazon will search for you, but you may have better luck at one of these three sites:
Larry Edmunds Bookshop, Inc., has no email address or website, unfortunately; but it claims to have the world's largest collection of books and memorabilia on cinema and theater. It's located at:
Larry Edmunds Bookshop The Hollywood Canteen, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, sells a wide variety of of books, posters, film stills, magazines, videos, and lots more. They bill themselves as having "the largest selection of out-of-print film books in North America."
Hollywood Canteen There are also a number of primary source materials from the silent era on the Internet; see the alt.movies.silent FAQ number 2, "Online resources."
What are the best documentaries about silent film?In case you were wondering whether there exists a home entertainment series that gives the best general overview of silent film, the answer to your question is:Oh, yes. It's called Hollywood: The Pioneers (1979), by the great Kevin Brownlow and the late David Gill. Hollywood: The Pioneers is a 13-part series. Each episode runs about an hour and focuses on different aspects of the silent film era in Hollywood. The pioneers, the great directors, the great cinematographers, the great comedians, the great stunt artists, the westerns; the war films; the great sex symbols, the coming of sound -- it's all here, in gloriously pristine prints and exclusive interviews. Hollywood: The Pioneers is available, but you have to hunt for it. A laserdisc version of the series is now out-of-print and almost impossible to find. Try contacting, by email or in person, the special orders department of your favourite video store and requesting the series. If you're lucky, the series may be available for rental. You can also buy it from Amazon.com: search on "Hollywood Complete Set" in the video directory. Be prepared to spend a hefty amount -- between $100 and $150 US -- to buy the entire series on video. If you can afford to buy it, trust us: it's worth it. Look as well for Brownlow and Gill's companion series, The Other Hollywood: Cinema Europe. This six-part, three-volume celebration of European silent film can be purchased on VHS video or DVD at:
DLT Entertainment, Ltd. If DLT Entertainment Ltd. no longer carries this series, check with the special orders department of your favourite video store, or try Amazon. There's also D. W. Griffith: Father of Film (1993), a three-part Brownlow and Gill documentary about one of the most influential and controversial filmmakers of the silent era. It's available at Amazon as well. Brownlow and Gill also collaborated on three documentaries about the great silent comedians: The Unknown Chaplin, a three-parter, features footage of multiple out-takes from Chaplin's films. It is one of the best documentaries ever made about the artistic process. Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, another three-parter, documents the rise and fall and rise of one of America's greatest comedians and filmmakers. Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius, a two-parter, covers the life and films of the man great enough to rival Chaplin and Keaton during their prime. Amazon.com has both the Chaplin and the Keaton series on VHS. They are also available on laserdisc, but copies are hard to come by, as is the VHS version of the Lloyd series. If you are lucky enough to find them, for God's sake buy them.
Where are the other silent film FAQs?There are three other FAQs for the alt.movies.silent newsgroup: The complete set of alt.movies.silent FAQs lives on Emily Way's REEL WORLD Web site:
http://www.vex.net/~emily/film/amsfaq/ The FAQs are also posted to alt.movies.silent, news.answers, and alt.answers once a month. They are also archived automatically at the following sites:
Rick Levinson (Rick.Levinson@sympatico.ca) and Emily Way (emily@vex.net) Last updated February 15, 2002 |
