One Reel a Week

Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press. Fine in Near Fine dj. 1967. First Edition. Hardcover. [a very nice copy, no discernible wear at all to the book; the jacket shows only minimal handling wear]. (B&W photographs) Joint reminiscences of the early days of filmmaking by two veteran cinematographers whose "careers span the crucial period from the beginning to the consolidation of the Hollywood industry after the introduction of sound. From the personal stories of the two men (giving in alternating chapters with a charming cross-cutting effect) emerges an intimate account of the infant industry: the ruthless commercial piracy taken for granted by all, the attempt by a small group of men to monopolize the making of pictures, and the methods used by the independent companies to survive. Illustrated with many working scenes from early studios, and stills from the authors' personal archives." Both men entered the film business in its infancy: Balshofer with the Lubin Company in Philadelphia in 1905, with Miller following soon after, as Balshofer's then 14-year-old assistant! .