This book by Barbara Tepa Lupack via Cornell University press hasn’t reached the UK yet, and given current conditions may not for months – but promises to be another useful chapter in the ongoing serial of silent film scholarship. Any news on the content, quality and availability of this book of its electronic edition, is very welcome…
(publishers blurb):
“The first book-length study of pioneering and prolific filmmakers Ted and Leo Wharton, Silent Serial Sensations offers a fascinating account of the dynamic early film industry. As Barbara Tepa Lupack demonstrates, the Wharton brothers were behind some of the most profitable and influential productions of the era, including The Exploits of Elaine and The Mysteries of Myra, which starred such popular performers as Pearl White, Irene Castle, Francis X. Bushman, and Lionel Barrymore. Working from the independent film studio they established in Ithaca, New York, Ted and Leo turned their adopted town into “Hollywood on Cayuga.” By interweaving contemporary events and incorporating technological and scientific innovations, the Whartons expanded the possibilities of the popular serial motion picture and defined many of its conventions. A number of the sensational techniques and character types they introduced are still being employed by directors and producers a century later.”
To be Continued… Serials, series & sequential media 