The silent cinema was America's first modern entertainment industry, a complex social, cultural, and technological phenomenon that swept the country in the early years of the twentieth century. Richard Koszarski examines the underlying structures that made the silent-movie era work, from the operations of eastern bankers to the problems of neighborhood theater musicians. He offers a new perspective on the development of this major new industry and art form and the public's response to it.

Richard Koszarski is Head of Collections and Exhibitions at the American Museum of the Moving Image. He is author of The Man You Loved to Hate: Erich von Stroheim and Hollywood (1983) and editor of Film History.

"The sounds, sights, and smells of theaters and their audiences come to life in this volume. Yet Koszarski never loses sight of the world outside the theater."—Stephen J. Ross, American Historical Review

"[Koszarski] brings to the period not only a secure awareness of its motion pictures and major players, but also a joy in the appreciation of movies. His book is alive with the flavor of the great silent film era, its people, its products, even its advertisements."—Jeanine Basinger, New York Times Book Review