Classic film book reviews including my entries in the three past Summer Classic Film Reading Challenges hosted by the Out of the Past blog.
The transition from silent pictures to all-talking and all-talking sound films is often told as a simplistic narrative: The Jazz Singer‘s success in 1927 revolutionized Hollywood as studios scrambled to convert their studios and theaters to sound as quickly as possible. William M. Drew’s …
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It is that time of year again for the 2021 Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge hosted by Raquel Stecher’s Out of the Past Blog. Last year’s challenge was one of the highlights of quarantine and despite being vaxxed this time around, I’ve already spent …
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There was really no rhyme or reason to the order of books I read for my summer reading. Fortunately, I managed to save what turned out to be my favorite book of the summer for last. Shelley Stamp’s Lois Weber in Early Hollywood is an …
Continue ReadingDating back to the very origins of cinema, music has been readily used alongside the moving image. How music is (or isn’t) used in film has varied throughout the history of cinema and throughout the world, whether it be originally scored orchestral music from the …
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The best compliment a film projectionist can receive from their audience is none at all. In other words, the best projectionists are never noticed by the audience when they deliver a flawless screening: a smooth transition between changing reels, a correctly matted screen ratio, an …
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Of all the silent directors who emigrated from Europe to Hollywood, Ernest Lubitsch was arguably the most successful and popular director. After becoming world-famous for his German comedies and costume dramas such as Madame DuBarry and Anna Boleyn (both 1920), Lubitsch signed with Warner Brothers …
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