In this book, a leading authority on film music examines scores of the silent film era. The first of three projected volumes investigating music written for films, this thoughtful and pathbreaking study demonstrates the richness of silent film music as it details the way in which scores were often planned from the start as an integral part of the whole cinematic experience.
Following an introductory chapter that outlines several key theoretical questions and surveys eight decades of writing on film music, Martin Miller Marks focuses on those scores created between 1895 and 1924. He begins by considering two early examples, one German (written by persons unknown for Skladanowsky's Bioskop exhibitions in 1895 and 1896) and one French (scored by Camille Saint-Saens for the 1908 film L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise). Subsequent chapters fully discuss Walter Cleveland Simon's music for the American film An Arabian Tragedy (1912) as well as the Joseph Breil accompaniment to D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). As described in this book, Breil's memorable score--though a compilation derived from many sources--was played by an orchestra as Griffith's sweeping images filled the screen, thus contributing significantly to the great film's success while also achieving remarkable power in its own right. Marks then concludes with a look at Erik Satie's witty and innovative music for the French film Entr'acte (1924), which was the first film score of consequence by an avant-garde composer.
Giving unprecedented attention to a vibrant, important, and oft-neglected facet of twentieth-century music, Music and the Silent Film will interest scholars of film theory, film history, modern music, and modern aesthetics."

A box set of 12 Norman Wisdom classics. In 'On the Beat' Wisdom stars as a bumbling Scotland Yard car park attendant who gets his chance to be a real policeman after he accidentally catches some crooks. His advantage lies in the fact that he physically resembles one of the ringleaders. In 'Man of the Moment' the bumbling Norman (Wisdom) accidentally becomes the British delegate to an important international conference in Geneva. Hilarious chaos and amusing misunderstandings ensue. In 'Trouble in Store' Wisdom is taken on as a shop assistant in a department store. His ambition is to become a window dresser, and he falls in love at first sight with his dream-girl, Sally. After a disastrous start (chasing a bus on roller skates, entering a shop girl's hostel, the usual sort of thing), events conspire to make Norman an unlikely hero. In 'Up in the World' Wisdom stars as the bumbling window cleaner to Lady Banderville. He has to cope with the pranks of her son, Sir Reggie, but cleans up when he confounds a gang of kidnappers. In 'The Square Peg' Norman Pitkin (Wisdom) is keen to help the war effort, and turns out to be a dead ringer for an enemy general. Joining up with his colleague, Mr Grimsdale, he is posted to France as part of a team repairing the damaged roads. Captured by the enemy, he turns his uncanny resemblance to his own advantage and comes home a hero. In 'Follow a Star' Wisdom plays a shop worker (imaginatively also named Norman, as indeed is every character he has ever portrayed) who dreams of becoming a famous singer. His attempts are, of course, disastrous, until he is encouraged by music teacher Miss Dobson, and a crippled girl named Judy. In 'The Bulldog Breed' Norman Puckle (Wisdom) is a grocer who joins the Navy and finds himself chosen to man a rocket flight into outer space. After Norman brings his own brand of madcap mayhem to the training process, his superiors begin to suspect that they might have picked the wrong person for the mission. Also starring Ian Hunter and Edward Chapman. Whilst in 'One Good Turn' Norman (Wisdom) works at the orphanage, and promises that he will buy one of its charges a model car. But how can he get the money? Proving himself equally incompetent at all jobs, he manages to raise a few laughs along the way in his attempts to earn the cash and not disappoint the little sprite. In 'A Stitch in Time' Star Wisdom plays an apprentice butcher trying to help a sick child. His bumbling efforts end up with him being banned from visiting little orphan Lindy, but Norman will go to any lengths to keep in touch with his young charge. Whilst in 'Just My Tuck', determined to win the heart of his beautiful neighbour, Norman (Wisdom) decides he wants to buy her a diamond necklace - but how can he possibly afford it? A solution offers itself when he goes to a bookmaker's, learns the intricacies of the accumulator bet, and sets out on a major winning streak. However, whenever Norman is involved things are never quite that simple, and soon enough our hapless hero finds himself in deep trouble, creating havoc at the local racetrack. In 'The Early Bird' Wisdom plays a milkman caught up in a feud between the small, traditional company that employs him and a large, modern dairy planning a hostile takeover. Will Norman, in his typically inept fashion, manage to save his company from the onset of modernity? Finally in 'Press For Time' Norman Shields (Wisdom) is an accident-prone young reporter, who only got the job because his grandfather (also played by Wisdom) happens to be the Prime Minister. Hilarious chaos ensues when Norman is sent to cover a beauty contest. Wisdom also appears in drag as a Suffragette called Emily.

Filled with fun projects and fellowship, this study helps young women develop godly self-esteem, social skills that can be used to disciple others, and Christian characteristics such as honesty, integrity, and servanthood.