The Art of the Moving Picture

"In the field of film aesthetics, it is the first important American work, still important—The Art of the Moving Picture is astonishing."
—Stanley Kauffmann

Written in 1915, The Art of the Moving Picture by poet Vachel Lindsay is the first book to treat movies as art. Lindsay writes a brilliant analysis of the early silent films (including several now lost films). He is extraordinarily prescient about the future of moviemaking—particularly about the business, the prominence of technology, and the emergence of the director as the author of the film.