Overview
Flickering Empire tells the fascinating yet little-known story of how Chicago served as the unlikely capital of American film production in the years before the rise of Hollywood (1907–1913). As entertaining as it is informative, Flickering Empire straddles the worlds of academic and popular nonfiction in its vivid illustration of the rise and fall of the major Chicago movie studios in the mid-silent era (principally Essanay and Selig Polyscope). Colorful, larger-than-life historical figures, including Thomas Edison, Charlie Chaplin, Oscar Micheaux, and Orson Welles, are major players in the narrative-in addition to important though forgotten industry titans, such as ""Colonel"" William Selig, George Spoor, and Gilbert ""Broncho Billy"" Anderson.
Full Product Details
Author: Michael Glover Smith ,
Adam Selzer
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Imprint: Wallflower Press
Dimensions:
Width: 23.40cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 15.60cm
Weight: 0.510kg
ISBN: 9780231174480
ISBN 10: 0231174489
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 20 January 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Language: English
Reviews
Long overdue... Chicago Tribune An exceptional new book... that immediately joins the ranks of essential film references Chicagoist [Flickering Empire] is a goldmine for popular culture historians and early-film buffs... Recommended. Choice A fascinating read from beginning to end. The Midwest Book Review
Long overdue... Chicago Tribune An exceptional new book... that immediately joins the ranks of essential film references Chicagoist
Long overdue... * Chicago Tribune * An exceptional new book... that immediately joins the ranks of essential film references * Chicagoist * [Flickering Empire] is a goldmine for popular culture historians and early-film buffs.... Recommended. * Choice * A fascinating read from beginning to end. * The Midwest Book Review * Long overdue... Chicago Tribune An exceptional new book... that immediately joins the ranks of essential film references Chicagoist [Flickering Empire] is a goldmine for popular culture historians and early-film buffs... Recommended. Choice A fascinating read from beginning to end. The Midwest Book Review
Author Information
Michael Glover Smith is an independent filmmaker whose most recent films, At Last, Okemah! (2009) and The Catastrophe (2011), have won multiple awards at film festivals across the United States. He has taught film history and aesthetics at Oakton Community College, Triton College, Harold Washington College, and the College of Lake County, and lectures at Northwestern University and Facets Multimedia. Adam Selzer lives in Chicago and is a tour guide and the author of several books on history and folklore, including The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History.
