Tweet Top Favorite Silent Film Books

Greetings everyone.

If you had to choose your top book on Buster Keaton (if you had to pick 1 or 2), which one would you suggest?

MILT GROSS-HE DONE HER WRONG (1930)
A COMIC NOVEL, DONE ALL IN PICTURES,
AS IF IT WERE A SILENT MOVIE

Greetings everyone.

If you had to choose your top book on Buster Keaton (if you had to pick 1 or 2), which one would you suggest?

Buster Keaton Remembered, by Jeffrey Vance and Eleanor Keaton.

Of these, An American Comedy deserves special mention because unlike the other autobios, it was written at the end of the silent era. When Lloyd recalls his start in movies, he only has to recollect back 15 years.

AND THE DOVER REPRINT OF THE FIRST EDITION INCLUDES ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Greetings everyone.

If you had to choose your top book on Buster Keaton (if you had to pick 1 or 2), which one would you suggest?

I thought "Tempest in a Teapot" was truly wonderful.

If you have read the "stories of his life" , "the
Buster Keaton Interviews" is va revelation. It is interviews of him so revealing & amazing. I felt as if I could hear his voice while I was reading. It is a must for devoted fans.

Agnes

Too bad "The Buster Keaton Interviews" and "Buster Keaton Remembered" are so expensive

I did make a good number of book purchases this summer thanks to many suggestions on this thread! Thanks again everyone!

The Buster Keaton Interviews in paperback is affordable on amazon

The Buster Keaton Interviews in paperback is affordable on amazon

Thanks for letting me know about the paperback, Inglis!!!!

I'm not sure if this book review rightfully belongs in this thread, but what the hell. I just finished reading Betsy Israel's Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the Twentieth Century, an oddly titled popular history of cultural attitudes and beliefs regarding single women, specifically in the U.S. Since Israel's examination covers mass media (newspapers, magazines, books, films, and often medical/academic literature) I'm still wondering what was so secret, but never mind.

The book isn't a film history but since films and television reflect cultural attitudes she does discuss films, starting with silents such as Where Are My Children and Smouldering Fires, through precode and classic era films such as Baby Face, Three Girls on a Match, and Joan Crawford's shopgirl roles, and on to modern portrayals in films like Bridgit Jones's Diary and Sex in the City. There are a few minor film history errors (and one howler), but they are not germane to the subject at hand; the book is entertainingly written so it isn't a chore to read. I recommends it to thems who are interested.

I just read Lauren Redniss's "biography" of Doris Eaton Travis, Century Girl. (For you Goodreads habitues, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/158570.Century_Girl" target="_blank) The quoted word is not a critique but rather a comment on the format of the book, which is written more in the style of a graphic novel or large format art book rather than a standard biography, physically mimicking a scrapbook. Redniss interviewed Doris and was given access to the Eaton family papers and scrapbooks (Doris's mother kept scrapbooks for all her children). Your mileage will definitely vary on whether you find this format enchanting or irritating. I"m a word-oriented reader so it rapidly wore out its welcome for me and I found the text (done in faux-handwriting) difficult to read. Nevertheless the photos and articles Redniss uses throughout the book are fabulous.

The book is not particularly detailed and close examination is not one of its strengths (I polished it off in about an hour and a half), but Doris herself comes out looking like what she probably was, a tough lady who rolled with the punches. She never stopped dancing throughout her life, for her dancing was a joy instead of just a job, which is probably why she lived so long. I would like to have seen more attention paid to her family life and her non-relationships with her father and elder brother. But that's just me.

So I'm firmly, uncategorically stating that recommendation-wise, you're on your own with Century Girl.

Pardon the possibly silly and obvious question, but have you read Doris Eaton's own memoirs, The Days We Danced?

Pardon the possibly silly and obvious question, but have you read Doris Eaton's own memoirs, The Days We Danced?

Sure haven't. I got this book from the LA Public Library, which does not seem to have Eaton's memoirs. Do you recommend it? I have strong feelings about memoirs and autobiographies.

I do recommend it; Eaton was a sharp lady and always had many good stories to tell. I recall her being quite frank about her family, especially the tragic fates of her sisters. I'm a bit partial in recommending the book since I met Eaton, albeit briefly, in 1999. At age 95 she moved around and talked like someone a quarter century younger. She and Bebe Neuwirth (!) did a dance together. If you want to see Eaton dance at age 101, check YouTube!

Buster Keaton's "autobiography" (I think it was largely ghostwritten based upon the co-author's interviews with Buster) is also an interesting read even though it is on the light side. Interestingly enough, the book is freely available for download (pdf, kindle, etc.) from archive.org - http://archive.org/details/mywonderfulworld00bust
I'm assuming that there is some sort of an agreement with the publisher for the book to have been made available on archive.org. Anyway, archive.org has several interesting autobiographies available from the likes of William S. Hart, Mary Astor, Adolphe Menjou, and Billie Burke.

Buster Keaton's "autobiography" (I think it was largely ghostwritten based upon the co-author's interviews with Buster) is also an interesting read even though it is on the light side. Interestingly enough, the book is freely available for download (pdf, kindle, etc.) from archive.org - http://archive.org/details/mywonderfulworld00bust

I have read it (long time ago, though). Most of those showbiz autobios were ghostwritten, many by Sandford Dody, who wrote a very funny memoir about his ghostwriting days entitled "Giving Up the Ghost." Of course the best showbiz autobiography ever is Little Me. It should be on everyone's list.

I agree with you on 'Century Girl', Frederica. There was a stack of copies at my local secondhand book shop, and after browsing through them half a dozen times, I never did end up buying one. It just made my head swim, I couldn't take any of it in. I think it's intended to be more of an aesthetic experience, and even on that count it didn't do much for me.

It's a shame that Mary Astor's first biographical work is on Archive.org rather than her second, 'A Life In Film'. They were composed years apart, but mostly cover the same period of time in different ways, a little like David Niven's 'The Moon's A Balloon' and 'Bring On The Empty Horses'. Her first book is in the vein of Lillian Roth's 'I'll Cry Tomorrow', one of those personal exposes that seemed to be popular in the 50s. The second focuses exclusively on her career and, in my opinion, is better written and far more interesting. Her in-depth recollections about how the industry worked, and what consisted a usual day on set are fascinating. In both books, she's frank as heck, particularly about herself.

Two books this year: Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies and Sweet Memories, the story of Mary and Owen's Moore adventures in Cuba.

I’m very interested in Pre-Revolution Russian Cinema, so I would recommend three books: Denise J. Youngblood’s The Magic Mirror: Moviemaking in Russia 1908-1918, Jay Leyda’s Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film and Yuri Tsivian’s Silent Witnesses: Russian Films 1908-1919. They include practically everything you need to know about tsarist cinema and especially the last one is a real gem.

A free library of 100 books on silent films, some quite hard to come by, is available on Internet Archive. They were scanned and uploaded courtesy of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum and based on the faceplate, many were owned by David Shepard. Follow this link or go to the IA search box and enter "Niles" and "Essanay" and narrow the search to "Texts". Some highlights include the memoirs of Will Hays, Pauline Frederick: On and Off the Stage, Paul Rotha's The Film 'Til Now (originally written in 1929), several books on cinema and the arts by Gilbert Seldes, Joe Franklin's Classics of the Silent Screen (ghosted by William K. Everson), Pictorial History of the Silent Film (Daniel Blum) and many more.

A free library of 100 books on silent films, some quite hard to come by, is available on Internet Archive. They were scanned and uploaded courtesy of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum and based on the faceplate, many were owned by David Shepard. Follow this link or go to the IA search box and enter "Niles" and "Essanay" and narrow the search to "Texts". Some highlights include the memoirs of Will Hays, Pauline Frederick: On and Off the Stage, Paul Rotha's The Film 'Til Now (originally written in 1929), several books on cinema and the arts by Gilbert Seldes, Joe Franklin's Classics of the Silent Screen (ghosted by William K. Everson), Pictorial History of the Silent Film (Daniel Blum) and many more.

That is the swellest thing EVER.

A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen - by Daniel C. Blum

I'm adding another book to this thread because Jim will get cranky if I put it anywhere else, but then I'm not really sure if it's one of my top favorite silent film books. My organizational gene thinks we should find a better way to list these reviews, because this thread is getting too long to allow people to easily find discussion for any given book. By publishing year, for new books, perhaps?

I've already written a review for Amazon and Goodreads for Hilary A. Hallett's Go West, Young Women! and I don't feel like writing a different one for N-Ville, so nyah, here's a link. Those that like this type of thing will enjoy this book. Those who are interested in the Arbuckle case will also find it interesting. I know I did.
http://www.amazon.com/Go-West-Young-Wom ... oung+women" target="_blank

Greetings everyone.

If you had to choose your top book on Buster Keaton (if you had to pick 1 or 2), which one would you suggest?

There is no top book. You read everything out there if you are truly interested in a certain performer. That way you realize that when you come upon a book such as "Tempest in a Flathat" (what a silly title...) that the author brings nothing new to the table.