The emergence of cinema : the American screen to 1907

Abstract

General Preface Acknowledgments Introduction PART 1 Before Cinema 1 Toward a History of Screen Practice 2 Thomas Edison and the Amusement World 3 Projecting Motion Pictures: Invention and Innovation PART 2 The Novelty of Cinema: 1896-1897 4 The Vitascope 5 Early Motion-Picture Companies 6 The Proliferation of Motion-Picture Companies and an Assessment of the Novelty Year PART 3 The Exhibitor Plays a Creative Role: 1897-1900 7 Full-Length Programs: Fights, Passion Plays, and Travel 8 Commercial Warfare and the Spanish American War: 1897-1898 9 The Film Industry Achieves Modest Stability: 1898-1901 PART 4 The Production Company Assumes Creative Dominance: 1900-1905 10 A Period of Commercial Crisis: 1900-1903 11 The Transition to Story Films: 1903-1904 12 Cinema Flourishes Within Its Existing Commercial Framework: 1904-1905 PART 5 The Beginnings of the Nickelodeon Era: 1905-1907 13 Nickels Count: Storefront Theaters: 1905-1907 14 Production as the Nickelodeon Era Begins: 1905-1907 Concluding Remarks List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Picture Sources General Index Index of Films