A Guide to American Silent Crime Films

The authors of this reference have compiled, in one volume, a history of the crime genre during the era of silent movies, aiming to preserve the memories of these films for their own generation and to introduce these works to a new one. This guide includes more than 2000 film entries, complete with names of directors, screenwriters and major players and offers a wealth of data supported by plot evaluations and occasional thematic commentaries. It also includes one- and two-reelers and serials along with full-length crime features. Each entry covers title, date of release, distributor or studio, director, screenwriter, major case members, plot description, and thematic commentary. It pays tribute to cinema pioneers as diverse as D.W. Griffith and Lon Chaney, who have given the world a wide variety of stories and experiences. Although men tended to dominate the silent years in Hollywood, women managed to contribute dramatically. Among them were director Lois Weber and film personalities Mabel Normand, Pearl White, Mary Pickford, and Ruth Roland. These creative men and women and their often neglected work deserve a second look. Contemporary stars can look to the past, where the ground for their work was carefully prepared in such films as Griffith’s The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) and von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927).