Vitagraph : America's first great motion picture studio /
In Vitagraph, Andrew A. Erish provides the first comprehensive examination and reassessment of the company most reponsible for defining and popularizing the American movie. This history challenges long-accepted Hollywood mythology that simply isn't true, that Paramount and Fox invented the feat...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Lexington :
University Press of Kentucky,
[2021].
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| Series: | Screen classics (Lexington, Ky.)
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| Summary: | In Vitagraph, Andrew A. Erish provides the first comprehensive examination and reassessment of the company most reponsible for defining and popularizing the American movie. This history challenges long-accepted Hollywood mythology that simply isn't true, that Paramount and Fox invented the feature film, that Universal created the star system and that these companies, along with MGM and Warner Brothers, developed motion pictures into a multimillion-dollar business. In fact, the truth about Vitagraph is far more interesting than the myths that later propagated about themselves. Established in 1897 by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith, Vitagraph was the leading producer of motion pictures for much of the silent era. For most of its existence America's most influential studio was headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, before relocating to Hollywood. Vitagraph established America's studio system, a division of labor utilizing specialized craftspeople and artists, including a surprising number of women and minorities. The comapny developed fundamental aspects of the form and content of American movies, and overcame resistance to multireel motion pictures by establishing a national distribution network for its features films. Vitagraph's international distribution was even more successful, cultivating a worldwide preference for American movies that endures to the present. Finally, here is a historically rigorous and thorough account of the most influential producer of American motion pictures during the silent era. Drawing on valuable primary material long overlooked by other historians, Erish introduces readers to the fascinating, forgotten pioneers of Vitagraph. |
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| Physical Description: | v, 287 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780813181196 0813181194 |