The new spirit in the cinema (1930)

INTRODUCTION xxix study of the Cinema. So far as I know, it is the first attempt to express the synoptic vision of the wide cinema world. In any case, it is the first book to consider the Cinema as an organic part of human and social life, and, as such, a natural and organic part of the theatrical machinery. It is original, not by reason of its material, much of which is clearly open to common use, but by reason of its point of view and the ingenious arrangement of its material. Further, it is interpretative. It is designed not only to exhibit an array of facts, but to show their relation to the spirit of the age. Finally, it may be said to be a thriller. Writing of my just-mentioned previous book1, a reviewer observes, " so thrilling are the facts (of the Russian theatre) he (the author) presents." . . . The story of the Cinema and the Spirit of the Age likewise contains all the ingredients of a first-class " thriller." The hero is the magician in the little Black Box; the heroine is the Good Purpose; the villain is the Demon in the Box Office who strives to separate them; the end is the death of the villain slain by his own cupidity, and the marriage of the Magician and Good Purpose. That is the whole thing; it is a thriller which could be written in magic language by anyone who has the gift, and who glories in fantasy. 9. Limitations. There are limitations. Enough has been said to indicate that the book is not a technical treatise on the subject of the Cinema. A good many technical treatises are in existence already. 1 " The New Spirit in the Russian Theatre." By Huntly Carter (Brentano, 1929).