At the advent of the twentieth century, America stood as the most prosperous nation in the world. William S. McKinley was well regarded as President; photographs replaced illustrations in newspapers, and coal was the fuel of choice. There was a strange...

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, most films were silent...

Silent Film Sound, Rick Altman (2005) New York: Columbia University Press, 528 pp., ISBN 0231116624 (hbk), $50.00, £32.50 THAT SILENT FILMS were never shown silently has become a truism of film history, yet our understanding of sound accompaniment remains incomplete and, at times,...

Silent films making a lot of noise, thanks to cable TV, Web sites By JOHN ENDERS Associated Press Sunday, January 13, 2002 Lincoln City, Ore. -- Idela Warton's eyes light up when she talks about the silent film era --...

Marcel MarceauPARIS (AP) _ Marcel Marceau, the master of mime who transformed silence into poetry with lithe gestures and pliant facial expressions that spoke to generations of young and old, died Saturday. He was 84.Marceau's former assistant Emmanuel Vacca said on French radio that the...

Block parties and street fairs are a sure sign that spring has arrived. But you might want to trade in roasted corn and trashy trinkets for ballet performances and panel discussions at Symphony Space’s second annual Upper West Fest, a three-week marathon of more than...

Many of today's modern actors strive to emulate the comedic legends from the early days of filmmaking. The examples of Johnny Depp in "Benny & Joon" (1993), Jackie Chan in "'A' gai waak," also known as "Project A" (1983), and Robert Downey Jr. in "Chaplin" (1992) show the degree to which these actors were influenced and inspired by the films and legacies of silent-film legends Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harry Langdon, and Harold Lloyd.