Silent Cinema

by Brian J. Robb

Silent cinema was never truly silent as performances were more often than not accompanied by live music and the noise of enthusiastic audiences. Yet silent cinema is regarded as a specific era in the history of the medium, and often as a separate art form in its own right. New York Times -bestselling author Brian J. Robb's lively resource traces how, from the origins of cinema onwards to the coming of sound in 1929 with The Jazz Singer , many of the ground rules of cinema were laid and filmmaking techniques developed, including editing and special effects, styles of acting, and filming on location. Studying the earliest origins of cinema, including the stars, comedians, and directors who became popular from the late-Victorian era to the end of the 1920s, including D. W. Griffiths, Cecil B. DeMille, and Sergi Eisenstein, this book also includes a look at the Hollywood scandals of the time. The accompanying DVD includes lengthy excerpts from films such as The Perils of Pauline , Phantom of the Opera , Salomé , and Son of the Sheik .

159 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2007

About the author

Brian J. Robb is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biographer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. He has also written books on silent cinema, the films of Philip K. Dick, Wes Craven, and Laurel and Hardy, the Star Wars movies, Superheroes, Gangsters, and Walt Disney, as well as science fiction television series Doctor Who and Star Trek. His illustrated books include an Illustrated History of Steampunk and a guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth (Winner, Best Book, Tolkien Society Awards). He writes and edits the Chaplin: Film by Film centenary blog site and is co-editor of the Sci-Fi Bulletin website. He lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Jeslyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. The beginning was somewhat promising, discussing the technical beginnings of silent film not often addressed. However, the writing isn't strong, and falls off badly once Robb moves to the people behind and in front of the camera. The nadir comes when he provides "contemporary equivalents" to the silent stars of the day - WHAT? After stating (correctly) that silent film was a genre and era that could never be replicated once sound films came in, including the international stardom that came to actors who transcended language and found immediate resonance worldwide, to then assign modern-day equivalents is not only contradictory, but completely ridiculous - especially given those assessments: Mary Pickford = "early Julia Roberts" (I may have audibly squealed in horror over that one); Lillian Gish = Gwyneth Paltrow (give me strength); Rudolph Valentino = "Leonardo DiCaprio (at the height of Titanic mania), with a dash of Johnny Depp, a slice of Brad Pitt, and a soupcon of Will Smith..." I'm not sure how I continued past this point, but I did, particularly to flip ahead and see who Robb would decree as the modern-day Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. Thankfully, he skipped those anointings, and also didn't feel the need to give the silent directors this treatment, but ultimately this was grammatically and stylistically too painful a read to continue. There are far better books on the subject - look them up if you're interested, but this one should be given a wide berth.