Overview

This is a history and critical appreciation of an unusually fertile period for the production of great or near-great silent films: late 1927 through early 1929, in the midst of the tumult and upheaval of Hollywood's transition from silent to sound. It offers in-depth looks at several of the best of these films and discusses the gifted artists such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Lillian Gish who helped bring them to life, even as the art they had taken to remarkable heights was about to be obliterated. It depicts some of the silent medium's most talented filmmakers and their efforts--in the face of inescapable technological change--to give their dying art a rousing last hurrah.

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9781476668956

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Reviews

"""Meuel's latest book marks a specific, prolific time in silent-film history that signaled the end of an era as Hollywood transitioned to sound. This title covers films from the end of 1927 to early 1929. Each chapter details a silent-film star or director and a renowned film of theirs from that period.... Meuel analyzes what made these films special and provides details about the stars' personal lives and their other notable works.... Film-history fans will enjoy Meuel's contextualization of some of the greatest silent films and biggest actors.... Great for libraries with lots of movie buffs, especially fans of silent films and classics, and for institutions with film studies programs.""--Library Journal"

Author Information

The author of three books on film history, David Meuel has also published two books of poems, more than two dozen short stories, and hundreds of articles on subjects ranging from U.S. national parks to high technology. He lives in Menlo Park, California.

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