Cheap Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses (Book) (Anthony Slide) Price

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Customer Reviews of Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses

Silent Players Speak to us from the pages of this fine book.
Anthony Slide is an English film critic who specializes in early Hollyood. In this book he has 100 chapters devoted to the lives and careers of 100 silent movie actors. At the end of each chapter there is a useful bibliography of articles and books on each person who is profiled., A picture is included at the begining of each chapter portraying the person as they looked in the silent era.
Many of the persons mentioned are famous such as Doug Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and Fay Wray. The vast majority of those discussed are of actors I am not acquainted with nor will most readers know who they are.
All of the persons are interesting with stories to tell about the early days of D.W, Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and Fred Niblo and other directors who made the movies, the stars and the way in which movies were produce in a bygone era.
Slide knew several of the actors on a personal basis and includes humorous and sad stories of his dealings with them.
This work could be used as an a handy reference tool for students of silent film and can also be read cover to cover for profitable pleasure.
This work along with the fine work of Kevin Brownlow allows t he new student to pre-sound film a good basic grounding in who the people were who were on the screens of America long ago.

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Anthony Slide takes us into the lives of obscure figures...
Ok, so maybe the idea of actor Ralph Graves and comedy director Mack Sennett in bed together in the 1920s seems a bit far-fetched, but who is to say whether or not it actually happened? For instance, the possibility of Sennett being gay was probed in the book "Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennett" by Simon Louvish. The preceding is just one aspect of Mr. Slide's masterpiece that is sure to grab a reader's attention. There are many more, such as actress Viola Dana's supposed sexual appetite which spans more than that of a football team's alone! The book is an excellent read; one that I couldn't put down for a second. It delves into the lives of many silent players, from the well-known to the obscure, and more than a few in between. Slide gives the birth and death dates if he knows them, and details a lot about the later years of the stars' lives. He offers biographies of actors that span a page or more, offering anecdotes provided from the stars themselves, and spending a great deal of time on some of his favorites, his friends like Mary Brian, Priscilla Bonner,Jetta Goudal, and most important of all, Blanche Sweet, with whom he acted as a public companion to for years. Some of the superstars that he chronicles are Mary Astor, Theda Bara, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Norma Talmadge, and Rudolph Valentino. Mr. Slide also takes us into the lives of such obscure players as, Mignon Anderson, Constance Binney, Gladys Brockwell, Pauline Curley, Bess Flowers, Howard Gaye, Alice Howell, Babe London, James Morrison, Gertrude Olmstead, Arline Pretty, Clarine Seymour, and Pauline Starke. Rounding out the list are players who were stars in their own day, such as John Bunny, Elmer Clifton, Miriam Cooper, Bebe Daniels, Carol Dempster, Richard Dix, Billie Dove, Ethel Grandin, Corinne Griffith, Robert Harron, William S. Hart, Alice Joyce, J. Warren Kerrigan, Bessie Love, Mae Marsh, Conrad Nagel, Olga Petrova, Charles Ray, Wallace Reid, Constance Talmadge, Florence Turner, Henry B. Walthall, Kathlyn Williams, and Lois Wilson. Aside from the dozens more profiled, the author also has a section on the silent and sound screen (and still alive) star, Fay Wray. The book also includes a picture for every entry (and, boy you should see the wonderful one the author chose to put in here of actor George Walsh!). With names like these, how could anyone who is interested in classic film studies not want to buy this book (the only thing that did upset me is the fact that Mr. Slide chose not to include three of my ultimate favorites; actresses worthy of mentioning, Colleen Moore, Dorothy Gish and Marguerite Clark. Clara Bow isn't here either, but that is neither here nor there!)? The book is indespensible, and is destined to become a piece of major film history.

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"Revisionist, almost revolutionary" Gossip w/ Nice Photos
This book by noted silent movie expert Anthony Slide features a photo and approximately three pages of biographical text (although some have as little as one page of text) on the following actors and actresses: Mignon Anderson, Mary Astor, William Bakewell, Lina Basquette, Madge Bellamy, Constance Binney, Priscilla Bonner, Hobart Bosworth, Evelyn Brent, Mary Brian, Gladys Brockwell, Kate Bruce, John Bunny, Ruth Clifford, Elmer Clifton, Miriam Cooper, Pauline Curley, Viola Dana, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, Philippe De Lacy, Carol Dempster, Dorothy Devore, Richard Dix, Billie Dove, Claire DuBrey, Virginia Brown Faire, Bess Flowers, Howard Gaye, Lillian Gish, Dagmar Godowsky, Jetta Goudal, Ethel Grandin, Ralph Graves, Gilda Gray, Corinne Griffith, Robert Harron, William S. Hart, Alice Howell, Alice Joyce, Madge Kennedy, Doris Kenyon, J. Warren Kerrigan, Laura La Plante - The Legends: Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino; - Harold Lloyd, Babe London, Bessie Love, Dorothy Mackaill, Mary MacLaren, Percy Marmont, Mae Marsh, James Morrison, Jack Mulhall, Mae Murray, Conrad Nagel, Nita Naldi, Mabel Normand, Jane Novak, George O'Brien, Gertrude Olmstead, Seena Owen, Jean Paige, Kathryn Perry, Olga Petrova, Mary Philbin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Arline Pretty, Esther Ralston, Charles Ray, Wallace Reid, Billie Rhodes, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Clarine Seymour, Lowell Sherman, Pauline Starke, Gloria Swanson, Blanche Sweet, Constance Talmadge, Norma Talmadge, Alice Terry, Florence Turner, - The Vamps: Theda Bara, Louise Glaum, Kitty Gordon, Olga Grey, Alice Hollister, Valeska Suratt; - George Walsh, Henry B. Walthall, Kathlyn Williams, Lois Wilson, Margery Wilson, Claire Windsor, and Fay Wray.

For mostly selfish reasons, I was a little disappointed by this book because many silent player names (well known or otherwise) I run across and would like to look up I do not find in this book. I was also disappointed in the biography on the actor about whom I know the most because I run a tribute website on him. I did not learn much new about him through this book which surprised me because he was very famous between 1914-16 and Slide knew several actors and actresses who worked with him (i.e. Lillian Gish). As many other reviewers have noted, there is a lot of gossipy information in this book (Slide calls it "revisionist, almost revolutionary"). Everything from Robert Harron dying a virgin to Mary Pickford's drunken rages aimed at her husband Buddy Rogers. Certainly, one would be hard pressed to find such stories in other books. One of the best features in the book, however, are the photos. Every star has a full page photo (except for those in the "Legends" and "Vamps" chapters who have a smaller photo and only a paragraph of text). Many of the photos seem to be quite unusual. I had never seen the photo used in this book of my website subject before. Slide does not use the commonly seen publicity shots for this book, which is nice. If the above names intrigue you and you like a bit of controversy, I recommend this book but, as a reference guide to silent movie stars, I was disappointed in it.