Cinema

Cinema by Kenneth W. Leish is a comprehensive encyclopaedic volume from the World of Culture series chronicling the history of film (1974). The volume begins with the birth of cinema and role of Melies, Pathe, D. W Griffith and traces the development of the medium into an international industry. analysing the new developments by decade up until the 1980s. Chapters explore Hollywood's 'heyday' in the twenties and the domination of conglomerates such as MGM, and the emergence of the star system, with information on Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Greta Garbo and Douglas Fairbanks. The chapter 'Film Finds its Voice' traces the development of the 'talkies', and 'Chorines and Comics, Cowboys and Crooks' looks at Hollywood gangster and western films in the 1930s, Astaire and Rogers, Clarke Gable, Claudette Cobert and Mae West. Other chapters look at international cinema, especially Jean Renoir's work. The chapter on the 1940s 'Hollywoods Fading Glory', features stars including Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Judy Garland and Cary Grant, and finishes on a chapter on the film of the 1970s. The back section features interviews in Making the Movies, a 'Chronology of Cinema', list of Academy Award Winners from 1927-73 and a bibliography. Back jacket includes an image of a mutoscope.