Los Angeles Before Hollywood: Journalism and American Film Culture, 1905 to 1915

This study provides a meticulous account of the reception and regulation of cinema in the United States during a decade of upheaval, transition and industrial consolidation affecting all realms of film culture. Written in close dialog with contemporary journalism, the book focuses on film culture in Los Angeles up to the era of Hollywood, from 1905 to 1915. The study discusses exhibition practices, regulatory efforts and reforms, the critical role women played in all dimensions of film culture and the burgeoning film journalism pivoting around the feature format and serial films. His work provides an important contribution to both film history and urban studies during the Progressive Era in a city predicated on Midwestern sensibilities in spite of its eclectic mix of ethnicities.