In his preface to this perceptive and penetrating book Lewis Jacobs "There is an urgency today to learn more about the fundamentals of motion picture expression. Critics and filmmakers are questioning old conclusions and attempting to arrive at a deeper understanding of film art --an awareness compaarable to that already achieved for painting, writing and music. This book undertakes to investigate the nature of the movies as a medium, to help those film enthusiasts who recognize the cogency of cinematic art and craft and who are determined to understand it"