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Drawing on the extraordinary collection of The Library of Congress, one of the greatest repositories for silent film and memorabilia, Peter Kobel has created the definitive visual history of silent film. From its birth in the 1890s, with the earliest narrative shorts, through the brilliant full-length features of the 1920s, Silent Movies captures the greatest directors and actors and their immortal films.

Silent Movies also looks at the technology of early film, the use of color photography, and the restoration work being spearheaded by some of Hollywood's most important directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

Richly illustrated from the Library of Congress's extensive collection of posters, paper prints, film stills, and memorabilia -- most of which have never been in print -- Silent Movies is an important work of history that will also be a sought-after gift book for all lovers of film.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; First Edition, First Printing (November 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316117919
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316117913
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.7 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.5 x 1.13 x 12.5 inches
Reviewer: Alan Dale Daniel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book with Great Posters and Pictures
Review: Silent Movies is a fine review of the silent film era of Hollywood. Best of all are the numerous posters and photographs included in the book. Arranged by topic, it makes understanding the economics and the culture of the early films easier to comprehend. All the big films are covered and the major stars and directors. I especially liked the discussions of the inventors. Let's face it, film is a technology and it was the new technology that underscored the artistic endeavors.The book includes a lot of personal stories that hold the reader's interest, some of them funny and some not so funny. Like all industries, the films made some people amazingly rich and totally ruined others. Losing money was the least of it. The large amounts of cash attracted not only actors and technicians but drug dealers and other scum who had no conscience. For many, money was the god of the movies and Hollywood displayed that ideology from the start.As the technology advanced to the talking movies, and then color, many of the silent movies were lost through neglect. Like today, most of the silent films were not classics. Every mass produced product has its share of trash and the silent movies were no different. Unfortunately, the classics were lost with the trash in many cases and that loss is permanent. As these movies disappear we lose a part of our culture from that era. This book stresses that loss.Great book for those interested in the silent era as I am.AD2

Reviewer: Anthony J
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Kindle version probably not a good choice
Review: This is a good survey of silent film history. Starting from the development of motion picture technology in the late 1880's, the author explains how the entertainment film industry that we are so familiar with today came to be. The book looks at different aspects of the industry in turn: technology, early nickelodeon entertainment, the development of features, studio system, directors, actors, country specific development, and technical aspects of film coloring and sound ( silent films had musical accompaniment as a rule). Mr. Kobel had extensive cooperation from the Library of Congress which provided him with much of the archival material for the book.It is well-written and comprehensive, but not very detailed in the text. For example, the short bio's on the actors are somewhat trite, and only informative as a quick reference. But clearly, this volume was intended as an "illustrated history", and the prints and photos are not only beautiful, but an integral part of the book. Although the illustrations come through clear and crisp on an Ipad, I think the full-size hard-cover version would be a much better choice. A nice overview of the "Birth of Film".

Reviewer: Laura
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Interesting insights
Review: Although I have watched some silent movies and many more talkies from the 30's, I was not familiar with the origins of the industry and associated technology. If you are looking for extensive bios on actors, this is not your book. This is a comprehensive look at how the motion picture industry started, actors, directors and other roles (and how they were different than for talkies), etc. I found it very insightful as I learned of Silent Film stars and industry pioneers that I was not familiar with. The photographs are awesome as well. It reads well as it is not overly technical or dry.

Reviewer: Sunhouse
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outstanding
Review: This is a book that you'll keep coming back to for the wonderful illustrations but, happily, it's great read, too. Kobel covers a lot of territory; not only about the stars and directors, as you'd expect, but also about the technology and business side of early film. While there may be more comprehensive studies on a lot of important figures out there, this is the best general overview of silents that I've come across. Even if you've never seen a silent film in your life, this great book just might make you want to.

Reviewer: Biblio
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This book is delicious
Review: A scrumptious look at a remarkable period of film history.A large format coffee table book with remarkable photographs in both color and black and white. The full page photography found in most of the book is just amazing. The chapters are well headed and the content is interesting, insightful and a great read.There are so many superlatives to use when describing this book. It is we'll worth picking up this treasure.A remarkable tribute to a historic period in film history and American culture.

Reviewer: M. Jackson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A great tribute to Silent Film!
Review: This is the first modern book I have seen in a long time that covers the silent era of film with the right combination of good textbook information and photographs to illustrate the era. There are many production stills, behind the scenes photos and poster and other advertising art work for illustration. A history of the development of Hollywood as the center of the film industry is given as well as coverage of different genres and the key players of the era. Overall, a handsome coffeetable edition with good general information about the best of Silent Film.

Reviewer: Spooky
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful book definitely for the keeping!
Review: What a gorgeous book! I originally got this book for an old film history class, but it has been on my coffee table ever since. It is full of interesting and wonderful history of silent films and the stars, as well as the directors and more. It has lovely photos throughout. This is one of the best books on silent movies and I highly recommend it.

Reviewer: Alison W
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Kindle users beware!
Review: This is a wonderful book, but most every page has a typographical error! It is frustrating to have spent this much money for so many typos.

Reviewer: Arthur Slade
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Just the photographs alone make this book worthwhile. But the history is in depth and a tale well told. What an amazing beginning to the film industry.

Reviewer: P. Scrivener
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: If you know little or nothing about the history of film or silent movie history itself I can think of nothing better than to start with this volume. Rather than an academic study that bogs itself down in interpretation and social juxtapositon, this is written with a lot of love and a great deal of clarity. Both Kevin Brownlow and Peter Kobel have depth in the subject and write with affection, rigour and occasional sly humour when describing both the films themselves and the stars who filled the movie houses with crowds that ran into the millions.The book covers film origins including the slightly surreal Edward Muybridge, how Edison failed to invent moving pictures; early development in europe particulaly France and to a lesser extent the UK; the business of film making and the growth and explosion of film stardom. The outline of basic film genres (westerns,horror,comedy etc.); together with descriptions of early directors, some world famuous D.W Griffith, Erich Von Stroheim and others to my eyes unknown, Oscar Micheaux,a black director and producer who tried to bridge the gap between black and white audiences and Lois Weber very well regarded at the time for her social realism.The works of the German expressionists; Murnau, Lang, Pabst and their influence on later directors is well brought out in the text.There are numerous vignettes of actors and actresses Fairbanks, Gish, Bow, Barthlemess, Valentino, Garbo and many more.The book also discusses and indeed cherishes silent film as a distinct artform. Highlighting incredible setpieces including Intolerance (Griffith),Ben Hur (Niblo),the cost over run cost several people their jobs, Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein).But the real glory of this book is the plates and illustrations, stills and early photographs. It is without doubt one of the most beautiful books that I have. From full page illustrations to corner page reproductions, every image is crisp and clean and produced with obvious love and care.If you have only one coffeee table buy another one just to put this book on. It is in my opinion that good.If you don't love silent films, you can at least appreciate the incredible human effort and skill that went into the production of the better ones.A really great volume.