Book Reviewed: American Silent Film by William K. Everson
This is one of the best surveys of the movie industry from its beginnings that covers the entire silent era which spanned from 1905 to 1928 and then the talkie movies took over from silent movies. The author discusses the work of great directors such as D.W. Griffith, Frank Borzage, John Ford, Erich von Stroheim, Josef von Sternberg, and King Vidor. The book also recognizes the work of performers such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh and numerous others. The book also discusses the movies under categories such as; comedies, Westerns, horror movies, gangster movies, love story and family dramas along with innovation and development in the areas of art direction, production, design, camera techniques and screen writing. The book is incredibly informative for anyone interested in the history and archeology of early American cinema.
A brief summary is as follows: The American movies flourish across the globe, and it all started in the wake of industrial revolution. The industry was built on firm foundation and it evolved rapidly when the movie making was still a fantasy of few dreamers and artists in Europe. This was before the first Nickelodeon opened in United States in 1905. When European countries were in the middle of war, the European movie businesses were badly hurt. In sensing that the competition is minimized, American movie businesses were strengthened and lead over European movie industry was lengthened considerably. This was the critical period when the American cinema achieved total mastery of the art of making movies, from screen writing to production and marketing of the product. Directors like Griffith, Stroheim, and Flaherty, Murnau, and Welles were mainly responsible for the artistic progressions, and technical and artistic innovations. They often used “A” stars like Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, Colleen Moore, Clara Bow and Douglas Fairbanks for making box office hits. The revenue generated helped for more artistic experimentation and variety and creativity in Hollywood. Many less known directors during the silent era also made impressive movies, but not often box office hits. This list included; William Seiter, Irvin Willat, Harry Pollard, and Emory Johnson. In 1919 D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford formed United Artists to give themselves greater freedom in making movies and greater profits for their investments, which interested other investors to invest in movie business that helped Hollywood to grow at a faster rate.
Another key step Hollywood would take is to tap into European expertize during 1910s and 20s. There was a strong presence of imported directors and actors/actresses from the other side of the “pond.” The early influences of Gustaf Molander, Ernst Lubitsch, Dmitri Buchovetski and F. W. Murnau in Hollywood were real and significant. In fact much of the important names in Swedish movie business had moved to Hollywood including Greta Garbo resulting in complete collapse of the Swedish movie industry.
The comedy films have a rich history in Hollywood. Hollywood greats such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett, Harold Lloyd and Laurel & Hardy made great silent comedies. But talkie films brought new talents like W. C. Fields. It’s a gift, Duck soup, Blessed event and Love me tonight are some of the finest comedies. The ultimate end of silent era was evident in 1926 with the making of Don Juan and more significantly The Jazz Singer in 1927.The silent industry was dying with much resistance from leading directors like Borzage, Ford, Stroheim, Sternberg, and King Vidor. They thought that would lessen the commercial value of Hollywood movies in European market and it would also destroy the unique form of art. Several leading actors and actresses supported that view. Greta Garbo was the last holdout because she was afraid that her heavy Swedish accent will not be accepted by American audience. Her last silent film “Kiss” was released in late 1929. The transition also kicked-in pretty strongly with stage directors like James Whale, George Cukor, John Cromwell, and Rouben Mamoulian. New performers from stage like James Cagney, Paul Muni, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy made lasting impact on talkie movies. Lubitsch’s “Trouble in Paradise” and Mamoulian’s “Love me Tonight” restored all the elegance of silent era, but several talkie movies of 1930 and 1931 also made strong showing in keeping the artistic forms of the silent movies. It was at the end of 1931 that “Hollywood holdouts” realized that the end of silent era has just passed by.
This book contains a number of photographs about art direction, and still photographs of several stars of the silent days; they are immaculate and rare pictures to treasure. In the appendix section of the book, the author discusses several published books about the history of Hollywood, which are helpful for readers interested in American movie history. This is a great book to read and it is highly recommended.
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