Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and Early Cinema - Tapa dura

"Groundbreaking... It offerss ... the thrill of discovery, an opportunity to learn often-startling new information... It is in every way a masterful piece of work."--The Moving Image "Rigorously researched."--Sight & Sound Magazine "A truly excellent recently published piece of scholarly film history... Meticulously researched and highly illuminating."--Davekehr.com "The history of boxing and early cinema is now to be given its first thorough history with the publication of Dan Streible's long awaited Fight Pictures."--Bioscope "An important contribution to American film studies."--American Historical Review

The first filmed prizefight, "Veriscope's Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight" (1897) became one of cinema's first major attractions, ushering in an era in which hugely successful boxing films helped transform a stigmatized sport into legitimate entertainment. Exploring a significant and fascinating period in the development of modern sports and media, "Fight Pictures" is the first work to chronicle the mostly forgotten story of how legitimate bouts, fake fights, comic sparring matches, and more came to silent-era screens and became part of American popular culture.