This book is a pocket history of film, covering technical developments, famous directors, actors, and films as well as genres such as Westerns, film noir etc. The book starts with the Lumiere brothers and works up to the present particularly focussing on famous directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Eisenstein, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, John Cassavetes, Ingamar Bergman, Roberto Rossellini and Martin Scorsese, and specific trends in films such as women in film, the studio system, genres and the star system. There are also little side panels highlighting famous actors and movies. All in all, this is an excellent pocket introduction to the history and world of film.

Author Biography

Tom Chitty has been a film critic since 1989. He has reviewed films for The Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Observer, Village Voice, LA Weekly and Cinema Scope. H is also the film critic for CNN.com and he has written a number of books on the subject.