"The entire field of film historians awaits the AFI volumes with eagerness."--Eileen Bowser, Museum of Modern Art Film Department Comments on previous volumes: "The source of last resort for finding socially valuable . . . films that received such scant attention that they seem 'lost' until discovered in the AFI Catalog."--Thomas Cripps "Endlessly absorbing as an excursion into cultural history and national memory."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

After more than fifteen years, this initial volume of the American Film Institute Catalog series is again in print. The 1920s set covers the important filmmaking period when "movies" became "talkies," and the careers of many influential directors and actors were launched. Films such as Wings, The Phantom of the Opera, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Jazz Singer are included in this volume.

From 1937 through 1945, Hollywood produced over 1,000 films relating to the war. This enormous and exhaustive reference work first analyzes the war films as sociopolitical documents. Part one, entitled "The Crisis Abroad, 1937-1941," focuses on movies that reflected America's increasing uneasiness. Part two, "Waging War, 1942-1945," reveals that many movies made from 1942 through 1945 included at least some allusion to World War II.

This book provides needed information on the collaborations between filmmakers and theater personnel before 1930 and completes our understanding of how two art forms influenced each other. It begins with the vaudeville and "faerie" dramas captured in brief films by the Edison and Biograph companies; follows the development of feature-length Sarah Bernhardt and James O'Neill films after 1912; examines the formation of theater/film combination companies in 1914-15; and details later collaborations during the talking picture revolution of 1927. Includes detailed analyses of important theatrical films like The Count of Monte Cristo, The Virginian, Coquette, and Paramount on Parade.