Films with: Musser, Charles

Before the Nickelodeon the early cinema of Edwin S. Porter /

Publisher description: Between the years 1894 to 1908, Edwin S. Porter was the leading American filmmaker. Follows his movie career, from his first job installing Thomas Edison's Vitascope machines in New York, through his business as a film exhibitor, to his job as head of Edison's movie studio. There he created story films: Jack and the Beanstalk, The Life of an American Fireman, and The Great Train Robbery. By 1909, his film technique was old fashioned. Fired by Edison, he continued making films until 1915, but he had been left behind by new directors with new techniques.

DVD 5526

Edison the invention of the movies /

Commercial motion pictures were invented at the Edison Laboratory between 1888 and 1893. Perhaps none of the component parts were strictly new, but the ability of Edison and his staff to reorganize them for a specific purpose was an extraordinary cultural achievement. In 1894, Edison was the sole producer of motion pictures in the world. Many Edison films continue to be impressive as the company employed such accomplished early directors as John Collins and Alan Crosland.

DVD 5813

Pioneers of African-American cinema

Among the most fascinating chapters of film history is that of the so-called "race films" that flourished in the 1920s -'40s. Unlike the "black cast" films produced within the Hollywood studio system, these films not only starred African Americans but were funded, written, produced, edited, distributed, and often exhibited by people of color. Entrepreneurial filmmakers built an industry apart from the Hollywood establishment, cultivating visual and narrative styles that were uniquely their own.

DVD 11546