American Cinematographer - September 1998 - 119

3.9

Amp/Hr

NP1 Batteries

Inks in Review

Nickel

These

new

Metal

Hydride

13.2v NP1 batteries
last twice

as long as
traditional NP1 12v

by George Tkirner

batteries. Standard
12v batteries

Living Pictures:
Origins of the Movies
by Deac Rossell
State University of N. Y. Press,

The

200 pps., paper,

$19.95

The multiple authorship of moving
pictures - from the inventions which
preceded movies as we know them to
the development of practical filmstocks,
cameras and projectors - is set forth
well in this concise, easy-to-read history.

All of the familiar

names are

included:

Sklandowski, Eastman,
Edison, Dickson, Marey, Friese-Greene,
Muybridge,

letters and other

sources.

There

are

four

main sections: "The Silent Performance,"

"Finding

a

Voice," "European Acting"

(divvied up into British, Soviet, and conti¬
nental groupings) and "FHollywood
Acting" (which consists of three parts
devoted, respectively, to the big studio
days, the business of acting, and the
"method" and other matters of style).
From the first entry (Charles
Graham about film acting in 1912) to the
last (actress/teacher Lindsay Crouses
views on acting today), a dominant
theme

is

the

difference

between

publicized contributors from various
parts of the world also come to the fore,
such as Akimov, Reich, Proszynski,
Demeny and Wray, to name a few.
Rossell, perhaps uniquely, does

and screen. Also
featured are one or two photos of each of
the players. All are well-chosen, except
two that represent George Arliss but are
really of Donald Cook (they were as alike
as John Wayne and Woody Allen), and
another pair in which Edward Fielding is

not deal with this mass of information in

misidentified

Armat, Lumiere, Paul, Acres, Latham. But
less

the usual

chronological, evolutionary
style. Rather, he reveals that a wide¬
spread ferment of ideas and invention
led to the birth of the movies. Rightly
enough, the emphasis is on the last
decade of the old century and the first
few years of the present one, and a
wealth of information is unearthed along
the way. Overall, the author has done a
good, scholarly job of fact-finding.

performing

supply
2.5Amp if dis¬
charged down to
lOv. Unfortunately,
most professional
equipment will not run under
10.8v,
ies

Michael

that the standard batter¬

usually used at half of their
capacity. The new 13.2v Platinum
NP1 batteries deliver the full

3.9Amp until discharged down to
10.8v.
You will at last

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'A

pair of aces"

Chekhov.

Biographical sketches of the contributors
are a

welcome inclusion.
The all-star cast includes

name a

few

-

Charles

-

to

Chaplin, Bette

Davis, James Stewart, Greta Garbo,
Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Meryl
Streep, Jack Lemmon, Marlon Brando,
Mary Astor, Robert De Niro, Liv Ullmann,

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Joan Crawford and Jack Nicholson.
These and the other talented indi¬

^

viduals

Playing to the Camera
by Bert Cardullo, Harry Geduld,
Ronald Gottesman, Leigh Woods
Yale

University Press, 384 pps.,
hardback, $30
There's

plenty of good reading in

this collection, wherein 42 noted movie

actors, past

and present, domestic and

foreign, discuss their craft. Their utter¬
ances are preserved in interviews, arti¬
cles, excerpts from autobiographies,

the full

use

capacity of your batteries and
double your running time.

on stage

as

so

are

speak seriously about acting, and
several subjects spice things up with
humorous reminiscences. Especially
enjoyable in this respect are Edward
Arnold describing his experiences with
Josef von Sternberg while making Crime
and Punishment, and Louise Closser
Hale's detailed account of her first day on
a soundstage after years of work in
theatre. For impromptu eloquence and
perspective, it's hard to top Lindsay
Crouse's closing comment from an inter¬
view: "If this whole tower that's called

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Offlfeii
Leaders in the latest technology

117
American Cinematographer - September 1998

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 1998
