American Cinema of the 1910s

Ben Singer

ISBN 10: 0813544459 / ISBN 13: 9780813544458

Published by Rutgers University Press, US, 2009

About this Item

It was during the teens that filmmaking truly came into its own. Notably, the migration of studios to the West Coast established a connection between moviemaking and the exoticism of Hollywood. The essays in American Cinema of the 1910s explore the rapid developments of the decade that began with D. W. Griffith's unrivaled one-reelers. By mid-decade, multi-reel feature films were profoundly reshaping the industry and deluxe theaters were built to attract the broadest possible audience. Stars like Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks became vitally important and companies began writing high-profile contracts to secure them. With the outbreak of World War I, the political, economic, and industrial groundwork was laid for American cinema's global dominance. By the end of the decade, filmmaking had become a true industry, complete with vertical integration, efficient specialization and standardization of practices, and self-regulatory agencies.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780813544458

Bibliographic Details

• Title: American Cinema of the 1910s
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press, US
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813544459
• ISBN 13: 9780813544458
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 505 grams

About this title

Synopsis

It was during the teens that filmmaking truly came into its own. Notably, the migration of studios to the West Coast established a connection between moviemaking and the exoticism of Hollywood.

The essays in American Cinema of the 1910s explore the rapid developments of the decade that began with D. W. Griffith's unrivaled one-reelers. By mid-decade, multi-reel feature films were profoundly reshaping the industry and deluxe theaters were built to attract the broadest possible audience. Stars like Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks became vitally important and companies began writing high-profile contracts to secure them. With the outbreak of World War I, the political, economic, and industrial groundwork was laid for American cinema's global dominance. By the end of the decade, filmmaking had become a true industry, complete with vertical integration, efficient specialization and standardization of practices, and self-regulatory agencies.

About the Author

CHARLIE KEIL is an associate professor in the history department and the director of the Cinema Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Early American Cinema in Transition: Story, Style, and Filmmaking, 1907-1913.

BEN SINGER is an associate professor of film in the department of communication arts at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the author of Melodrama and Modernity: Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts.