Daniel C. Blum (1899–1965)

I acquired the sequel to this, on the early talkies, for a steal of a price, but later found out the silent era was more pertinent to my research needs. This book is an absolute treasure for anyone interested in the early era of film. It is organized by year. Text is minimal, just enough to provide each year with some context about the major films or flops, ascending actors, or other intriguing info. The book is all about pictures, really. Each page is covered with arrays of photographs of show more actors and actresses and information on the film and company. At a glance, a reader can see trends in historical set pieces and flapper hairstyles and little Fairbanks mustaches. Many of these films and actors have virtually no presence online--in many cases, the movies are outright lost--which makes an old fashioned paper book like this all the more important. show less

I bought this for $1 at the big VNSA book sale in Phoenix, Arizona, and it's quite an impressive book. My copy is a first edition, printed in 1958, and I can imagine it was quite a pricey coffee table book back then. It is indeed a pictorial history of the talkies, with tons of good quality black and white pictures on every page. It has large paragraphs of text about the transition from silent films and then a paragraph to summarize each year from 1930 to 1958 by mentioning major show more award-winning pictures and actors, major hits, hot newcomers, and deaths. It's fascinating. The book is quite inclusive as far as genres, depicting everything from Gone With the Wind to a multitude of Tarzans to Disney's Pinocchio. It's also interesting to see the evolution in things like head shot angles and fashion; I even noted a bizarre fascination with bathtub scenes throughout the book. I recognized a lot of movies, and I bet my parents will enjoy flipping through this book even more because they've seen just about everything in here. show less

The layout of this history is a bit like a scrapbook or a magazine, with lots of pictures and blocks of text included here and there.

I might have rated this five stars if not for the substandard picture quality. This may be down to my downloading a free PDF copy from Open Library, as the pages are all scanned by what looks like someone in a rush. By that I mean numerous pages have one edge or the other missing, while other pages are anything but straight.

Many photos were faint or blurry, and show more in some instances people's faces are white over, devoid of eyes, nose, and mouth, though this may also be down specifically to my scanned copy. I'd like to think that if anyone bought a hard copy that the photos would be of a better standard. Most of the bigger photos, particularly those that fill an entire page, are clear and of good quality.

Text-wise, the writing is simple and to the point. It's an easy read, but owing to lack of space, nothing goes into great detail, but then you wouldn't expect it to, it being a pictorial history.

I'm a fan of several stars featured in this book, such Mary Pickford, Janet Gaynor, and Harold Lloyd, but it also introduced me to a lot of people I've never heard of. It's sad, really, that so many famous actors and actresses are now remembered by so few. show less

`This book was like my Bible when I was a kid- almost entirely pictures,lots of pictures, but I think it (along with it's companion volume on the silents) taught me more about the history of commercial than just about any other book. Only Halliwell's Filmgoers' Comapanion came even close.