The motion picture industry in its earliest days seemed as ephemeral as the flickering images it produced. Considered an amusement fad even by their exhibitors, movies nevertheless spread quickly from big-city vaudeville houses to towns and rural communities across the nation. Small-town audiences, looking for more than the lurid melodramas and slapstick comedies popular in cities, often lined up to see films with conservative and educational themes: scenic panoramas, biblical tableaux, newsreels, and manufacturing scenes. In this social history of the cinema during the silent-film era, Kathryn H. Fuller charts the gradual homogenization of a diverse American movie audience as itinerant shows gave way first to nickelodeon theaters and then to more luxurious picture palaces. Fuller suggests that fan magazines helped to reduce the distinctions between rural and urban moviegoers and created a nationwide popular culture of film consumption. Analyzing the articles, advertisements, and letters in such publications as Motion Picture Story Magazine and Photoplay, Fuller shows that these fan magazines—which initially catered to adult readers—shifted their focus by the late 1910s to young women who, entranced by Hollywood glamour, eagerly bought products endorsed by the stars. Although the transformation of the movies into big-time entertainment had multiple sources, Fuller argues that ultimately the maturation of the film industry depended on the support of both urban and rural middle-class audiences. Providing the fullest portrait to date of the small-town audience's changing habits and desires, At the Picture Show demonstrates for the first time how a fan culture emerged in the United States, and enriches our understanding of mass media's relationship to early twentieth-century American society.

Get ready for an animal adventure with your little explorer! The Kids' Picture Show books, inspired by the hugely popular YouTube channel, introduce young readers to first words in cool 8-bit style. This sturdy board book, packed with images of animals, is the perfect introduction to creatures from around the world for babies and toddlers. The 8-bit illustration style makes the book even more fun and accessible for young children, and will also appeal to parents, grandparents, and everyone who has played classic video arcade games.

Katie's Picture Show was originally published in 1989 and has captured the imagination and hearts of budding art lovers for a quarter of a century. Now, Orchard Books proudly presents this new edition to celebrate this classic story's 25th birthday. Completely reillustrated throughout, and with a beautiful new cover look, this book will enchant Katie fans, new and old. My daughter was entranced. She demanded endless readings - The Times Join Katie as she visits the gallery for the first time with Grandma and discovers that art is wonderfully exciting, especially when five famous paintings come alive for her! Join the ever-curious Katie as she discovers that art can be fantastic fun - particularly when you step into the world inside the frame . . . The five masterpieces featured are: The Hay Wain by John Constable Madame Moitessier Seated by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Les Parapluies by Pierre-Auguste Renoir Tropical Storm With a Tiger by Henri Rousseau Dynamic Suprematism by Kasimir Malevich

A lively illustrated history that reveals how the movie business has fascinated, scandalized, and socialized the Twin Cities and its people.

This publication is a major evaluation of the 1970s American cinema, including cult film directors such as Bogdanovich Altman and Peckinpah.

With Texasville, Larry McMurtry returns to the unforgettable Texas town and entertaining characters from one of his best-loved books, The Last Picture Show. This is a Texas-sized story brimming with home truths of the heart, and men and women we recognize, believe in, and care about deeply. Set in the post-oil-boom 1980s, Texasville brings us up to date with Duane, who's got an adoring dog, a sassy wife, a twelve-million-dollar debt, and a hot tub by the pool; Jacy, who's finished playing "Jungla" in Italian movies and who's returned to Thalia; and Sonny—Duane's teenage rival for Jacy's affections—who owns the car wash, the Kwik-Sackstore, and the video arcade. With his talent for writing lovable, eccentric characters, Texasville is one of Larry McMurtry's funniest and most touching contemporary novels.

"A historical look of 20th-century motion picture exhibition in a North Texas town, recalling the people and places who showed and watched movies. Charts the evolution from traveling exhibitors to the United States' largest multi-screen megaplex"--