One Reel a Week

One Reel a Week by Fred J. Balshofer and Arthur C. Miller, with the assistance of Bebe Bergsten, offers an unparalleled firsthand chronicle of the formative years of American cinema. Balshofer, a pioneering producer-director, and Miller, who rose from lab assistant to Academy Award–winning cinematographer, weave together their personal narratives to reconstruct the struggles and triumphs of early filmmaking. From duplicating French films in basement labs to evading Edison’s patent detective...