Eileen Bowser chronicles the history of the American film business from the days of storefront nickelodeons to the premiere of D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. The effect of the surroundings—the size of the hall; whether the film was shown alone or along with vaudeville entertainment; and the size, quality, and relevance of the musical background—are all examined for their impact on the filmgoing experience.

Eileen Bowser is former Curator of Film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

"Impeccable scholarship. . . . [Bowser] answers a great many questions about how film began to define what is now called its language."—Jeanine Basinger, New York Times Book Review

"A superb and nuanced analysis of the historical context in which films were made, exhibited, and received. . . . Changing narrative forms, acting styles, camera angles, and editing techniques are analyzed in a highly comprehensible manner."—Stephen J. Ross, American Historical Review

"There is no equivalent to these books.. . . When Eileen Bowser says that the term 'movie star' was first applied to Florence Turner, the Vitagraph actress, in 1910, you can trust her as you never could trust the journalistic chroniclers of the movies who relied on second-hand sources or memory."—Kevin Lewis, Film Culture