Bound and Gagged - The Story of the Silent Serials

Descripción

The adventure, romance, and pathos that were so much a part of the silent serial during the early years of the motion picture industry have vanished from the scene of the Hollywood movie studio. The present generation neither remembers - for none was yet born - nor cares; for to them the silent serial is but a small part of the American past which might never even have existed. But to those who themselves were growing up in the pre-talkie era, when the motion picture industry itself was just beginning to unfold its wings, the silent serial was an outlet for the fancies of children and the dreams of adults. It was an action-packed, thrill-a-minute entry into the world of exciting experiences. Bound and Gagged is the story of the silent serial: its birth; its growth; its heroes and heroines; its successes and failures; and finally its demise. Author Kalton Lahue takes you behind the scenes, into the studios, to show you how the serials were made. The operations of the famous studios that produced these serials - Pathe, Universal, Vitagraph, Rayart and Mascot - are fascinatingly explained and discussed in detail. What was the industry thinking behind the thrilling episodes? How did writers create the thrill-a-minute scenarios? Did serial directors function difFerently from their feature counterparts? All these questions and more are answered fully in the captivating text. Within the pages of Bound and Gagged serials come alive once more as Spencer G. Bennet, Robert F. Hill, Frank Leon Smith, Ford Beebe, Louise Lorraine, and others reveal the past in personal interviews. Here the reader will find the only career study of Charles Hutchinson and Eddie Polo, and long-obscured facts about many fabulous serial people. Hundreds of illustrations bring back the excitement and drama of The Jungle Goddess, The Fortieth Door, The Vanishing Dagger, The Green Archer, The Adventures of Tarzan, and many, many others. Bound and Gagged is unique in that there are no other books on the market to compare with its content. It is a monumental work, which recreates the magic of an era and an industry that somehow only lives in the memories of those who will never forget the thrill of a silent serial. ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Born and educated in Richford, Vermont, Kalton C. Lahue became interested in motion pictures at an early age. Living next door to the Park Theater, he practically grew up in a theater seat and later worked as projectionist and assistant manager. Transferring to active duty from reserve status during the Korean War, he was assigned to the Signal School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and then sent overseas as a combat photographer in Korea. After his discharge in 1955, he enrolled at the University of Vermont to study history and became interested in silent movies for their historical value. In attempting to learn all he could about the early days of pictures, he found reference material both scanty and conflicting so he decided to write his own book. An ex-history teacher, he holds an M.A. from San Jose State College and has served as Director of Educational Resources Project at Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont, as well as Director of the Instructional Materials Center in Springfield, Vermont. The past three years, he has worked as an educational consultant and free-lance script writer, in addition to writing three previous books-Continued Next Week, World of Laughter, and Kops and Custard. He is married and has one child. N° de ref. del artículo 000817

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