Silent Film's Last Hurrah

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.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: A Doomed Art's Glorious Last Days
 1. At the Precipice: Mary Pickford and My Best Girl
 2. "The maddest idea in the world": Gloria Swanson, Raoul Walsh, and Sadie Thompson
 3. Tramp on a Tightrope: Charlie Chaplin and The Circus
 4. "A lyricist of light and shadow": Josef von Sternberg, The Last Command, and The Docks of New York
 5. "The highest reaches of the form": King Vidor and The Crowd
 6. The End of an Amazing Run: Harold Lloyd and Speedy
 7. In a Blaze of Windswept Glory: Buster Keaton and Steamboat Bill, Jr.
 8. A Star Is Born: Joan Crawford and Our Dancing Daughters
 9. "Astonishing elegance": William Wellman, Louise Brooks, Wallace Beery, and Beggars of Life
10. "Time was his; he owned it": Erich von Stroheim and The Wedding March
11. "I have a special confidence in you": Lillian Gish, Victor Sjöström, and The Wind
12. Partners in Perversity: Lon Chaney, Tod Browning, and West of Zanzibar
13. "To reach for the moon one last time": Douglas Fairbanks and The Iron Mask
14. Twenty-Eight Other Notable U.S. Silent and Hybrid Films Released During the Long 1928
Afterthoughts: Requiem and Reemergence
Where to Find the Films Featured in This Book
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index