Silent Stars

by Jeanine Basinger

Book Overview

An eminent film historian illuminates the stars of silent film.Film scholar Jeanine Basinger offers a revelatory, perceptive, and highly readable look at the greatest silent film stars -- not those... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679438408
• ISBN13: 9780679438403
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 497 Pages
• Weight: 2.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Thorougly Enjoyable Book

I wanted to learn more about the silents, and started with "The Parade's Gone By". It was good, but a bit too technical. What I really wanted was to know about the great personalities of the silent screen, and this book fills the bill. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would have liked even more profiles. Each chapter deals with a silent star, some quite well known, some not so. There is also an excellent overview of silent films in general. The author writes in an enjoyable, easy-going manner, but there is plenty of information, and great photos. There are wonderful takes on Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Pola Negri, Gloria Swanson, The Talmadge Sisters, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, and so many more, even Rin Tin Tin! Really a great read, with some unforgettable tid-bits. (You'll never believe what Pola Negri said she would always remember Valentino for, or where Rin Tin Tin drew his last breath). Wonderful book.

SILENCE IS INDEED STILL GOLDEN!

They had faces then . . . those silent screen icons known as Clara, Lon, Pola, Gloria, Mabel, John, Mary, Douglas, Rudolph --- even Rin-Tin-Tin. From the pen (and meticulously researched and always thoughtful mind) of film scholar Jeanine Basinger comes this must-have tome, as important for its reconstructed historical chronicle as it is for its wit, humor and revelatory insights. Those expecting gossip will find it; those yearning for an academic, yet never boring, read will find it as well. The 300-plus photos are an added treat; was there anyone more handsome than Ramon?

Silent Stars--an essential reference work

There is very little I can say about this book except that i totally and completely recommend it to anyone who loves silent pictures as much as I do.

Among The Great Books On Silent Film

I love silent films,and Jeanine Basinger has given us a work that ranks at the very top for me---right alongside Kevin Brownlow's "The Parade's Gone By",Bill Everson's "American Silent Film",and Walter Kerr's "The Silent Clowns".Honestly, I carried Jeanine's book around with me for days until I'd read it from cover to cover---my only regret was she didn't give us another thousand pages on another hundred stars---that's how good it is.Unlike so many latter day academics and historians,this writer actually enjoys the films and personalities she writes about,and her enthusiasm is infectuous---and no,this isn't just fan worship on her part---Basinger has clearly spent a lifetime pursuing the study of silent film,and her insights reveal a maturity and appreciation for this vanished era that could only come from someone who has truly devoted herself to the subject at hand.There aren't many film scholars operating at this level---believe me, I've endured the agonies of overpriced,University press offerings for too many years---"Silent Stars" is one in a thousand.If you care anything about this era and the people who enriched it,order this book today.It'll be the best money you've spent this year.

Fantastic, must have for silent film enthusiasts

I loved all the photographs. Many of them I'd never seen before. It was a great adventure to read intricate details of the silent stars and their films. It is a book to enjoy again and again!