About Anthony Slide

Born in Birmingham, England, on November 7, 1944, Anthony Slide was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston, Birmingham. In the United Kingdom, he served as Honorary Secretary of the Society for Film History Research; co-founded and served as first editor of the newsletter of the Cinema Theatre Association (dedicated to the study of the cinema as a building and still active); organized Britain's first silent film festival, an eighteen day event at London National Film Theatre, in conjunction with the 1970 London Film Festival; and programmed series on British Cinema in the Twenties and British Music Hall Comedians on Film at the National Film Theatre. In 1968, he co-founded THE SILENT PICTURE, the only serious quarterly devoted to the art and history of the silent film, which he edited and published until its demise in 1974. (THE SILENT PICTURE was subsequently published in 1977 in a reprint edition by the Arno Press/New York Times.) After an early career in local government in Hull, Kingston-upon-Thames and the London Borough of Lambeth, Anthony Slide's first professional involvement with film was as Assistant Editor of INTERNATIONAL FILM GUIDE from 1968-1971.

In 1971, Anthony Slide came to the United States as a Louis B. Mayer Research Associate with the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies in Beverly Hills, California. From there, he moved to the Institute's Washington D.C. headquarters, and was responsible for setting up the AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE CATALOG: FEATURE FILMS, 1911-1920.. In 1973, he became the Institute's Associate Film Archivist, responsible for the acquisition and preservation of more than 2,000 films in the National Film Collection at the Library of Congress. Anthony Slide became the Resident Film Historian of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1975. At the Academy, he was responsible for most of its educational and cultural activities; he headed the National Film Information Service; edited an educational newsletter; and was responsible for its in-house exhibits and public film programs. Among the more than fifty tributes which he produced were those devoted to Groucho Marx, Mary Pickford, Best Dance Direction, Southern California on Film, The Silent Stars Speak, W.C. Fields, and Pete Smith. Anthony Slide resigned from full-time service with the Academy in 1980, but continued to work there on a part-time basis through 1986, cataloging many of the special collections holdings of its Margaret Herrick Library. From 1986-1990, he was co-owner of Producers Library Service, one of the two oldest and largest independent stock footage libraries in the United States, with more than six million feet of film. Since 1990, Anthony Slide has worked as an independent film scholar, archivist and consultant.

Anthony Slide is listed in CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS AND WRITERS WHO'S WHO, WHO'S WHO IN THE WEST, and WRITERS DIRECTORY.



Film and Television



In the area of film and television, Anthony Slide wrote introductions to the releases of Blackhawk Films from 1973-1975, and was also responsible for a two-part compilation on the Pathe Freres Company, released by Blackhawk in 1976, and titled THE ENCHANTED STUDIO and MORE FROM THE ENCHANTED STUDIO. His other credits in the field include:
THAT's HOLLYWOOD (20th Century-Fox/ABC, 1981-1982), Series Consultant for 24 episodes.
PORTRAIT OF BLANCHE SWEET (1982), Producer/Director of a thirty-minute documentary short
LYMAN HOWE'S HIGH CLASS MOVING PICTURES (PBS, 1983), Consultant
A SEAT IN THE STARS: THE CINEMA AND IRELAND (Ulster Television, 1984), Hollywood Consultant and On-Camera Commentator for this six-part series
THE DARK SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD (ABC, 1984), Associate Producer
VI:PORTRAIT OF A SILENT STAR (1988), Writer/Director of a twenty-minute documentary short
LILLIAN GISH: THE ACTOR'S LIFE FOR ME (PBS, 1988), Film Historian and Consultant
AN HOMAGE TO D.W. GRIFFITH (Fuji Television/Boss Film, 1989), Writer of a Japanese 70mm short subject, produced as an epilogue to INTOLERANCE
KARL BROWN'S ADVENTURES WITH D.W. GRIFFITH (1990), Writer/Director of a thirty-minute documentary short
PAINTINGS AND BRONZES BY ANDRE DE TOTH (1991), Producer of an eight-minute 35mm short
THE SILENT FEMINISTS: AMERICA'S FIRST WOMEN DIRECTORS (1993), Co-Producer/Director/Writer of a 45-minute documentary feature
THE LOST GARDEN (National Film Board of Canada, 1995), Participant
ALICE GUY, OU L'ENFANCE DU CINEMA/ALICE GUY, OR THE BIRTH OF CINEMA (Zeaux Productions for Cine-Cinefil and Planette cable channels, France, 1996), Participant
THEY PLAYED THE PALACE (BBC Radio 2, 1997), Consultant and Participant
MYSTERIES & SCANDALS (e! entertainment television, 1998): Charlie Chaplin, Nazimova and James Whale episodes, Participant
MYSTERIES & SCANDALS (e! entertainment television, 1999): Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel episode, Participant
HIDDEN HOLLYWOOD 2: MORE TREASURES FROM THE 20th CENTURY-FOX VAULTS (Van Ness Films/American Movie Classics, 1999), Participant
HIDDEN HOLLYWOOD 3: RETURN TO THE 20th CENTURY-FOX VAULTS (Van Ness Films/American Movie Classics, 1999), Participant
REEL MODELS: THE FIRST WOMEN OF FILM (Barwood Films/ American Movie Classics, 2000), Participant/Consultant
MYSTERIES & SCANDALS (e! entertainment television, 2000): Dorothy Arzner episode, Participant
MYSTERIES & SCANDALS (e! entertainment television, 2001): Lina Basquette and Gloria Swanson episodes, Participant
HOLLYWOOD NAILS AT DAWN (BBC Radio 4, 2001), Participant
THE ORIGINAL MERMAID; THE AMAZING STORY OF ANNETTE KELLERMAN, SUPERSTAR, SUPERWOMAN, SUPERFISH (Hilton Cordell Productions/Australian Film Finance Corporation, 2002), Participant
THE MAKING OF MODERN HOLLYWOOD (September Films / Sky Broadcasting, 2005), Participant.
LIFE IS A DREAM IN CINEMA — POLA NEGRI (Mariusz Kotowski, 2006), Participant.

For all later credits, see the IMDB. However, be aware that the IMDB does not list all later credits, and that it is very unreliable for earlier credits.
Anthony Slide has presented film programs at Filmex (the Los Angeles International Film Festival), the International Women's Film Festival (Paris), the Library of Congress, the Midnight Sun Film Festival (Finland), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, California), the Sinking Creek Film Celebration (Nashville, Tennessee), the Cinecon Convention (Los Angeles), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theatre (Bowling Green Ohio), and the American Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria, New York). He compiled the film clips for the U.S. Postal Service first Day of Issue ceremonies for commemorative stamps honoring D.W. Griffith, the 50th Anniversary of Talking Pictures and W.C. Fields.

Anthony Slide has recorded DVD commentaries for the following 20th Century-Fox releases: DOUBTING THOMAS (1935), IN OLD KENTUCKY (1935), LIFE BEGINS AT 40 (1935), THE RAINS CAME (1939), THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946), 7th HEAVEN (1927), and UNDER MY SKIN (1950).

Since 2002, he has also conducted videotaped interviews for the Heritage Archive program of BAFTA/LA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, of which he is an elected member). To date, he has interviewed Sir Alan Parker, John Scott, Bernard Gribble, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and Michael York.



Awards. Memberships, etc.



1984: James R. Quirk Memorial Award for Film Scholarship
1986: Society for Cinephiles Award for Film Scholarship
1986: THE AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY named Outstanding Reference Source of the Year by the American Library Association
1989: THE INTERNATIONAL FILM INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY named Outstanding Academic Book of the Year by "Choice" magazine
1990: Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Bowling Green State University, Ohio; at that time, Anthony Slide was hailed by Lillian Gish as "our preeminent historian of the silent era."
1994: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VAUDEVILLE named Outstanding Academic Book of the Year by "Choice" magazine, a Best Reference Book of the Year by "Library Journal" and Outstanding Reference Source of the Year by the American Library Association
Member, Board of Advisors, Sinking Creek Film Celebration
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, FILM HISTORY journal
Member, National Advisory Committee, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Film Theatre, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
Member, Editorial Advisory Board, AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE CATALOG
Member, Advisory Board, St. James Press INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF FILMS AND FILMMAKERS
Member, Editorial Board, FRAMEWORK journal



Miscellaneous Activities



1972: Oral History with David Abel on behalf of American Society of Cinematographers
1975: Participant in symposium on "American Revolution on Film," organized by Buffalo and Erie Historical Society
1976: Co-Sponsor of exhibit, "Looking for Hollywood and Vine," organized as part of the Revitalize Hollywood Campaign
1976-1977: Archivist for Los Angeles Film and Television Study Center, responsible for acquisition of collections of motion picture momorabilia for Center's member institutions
1977: Member of Comittee for "A Tribute to Joan Crawford," under chairmanship of George Cukor
1992 to date: Historical Consultant on film-related matters to the Bank of America



Publications



Anthony Slide published his first article, "William Morton and His Cinemas," in CINEMA STUDIES (December 1963). Since then, he has authored many hundreds of articles and book reviews on the history of popular entertainment. From April 1977-April 1982, he contributed a monthly column, "8mm and 16mm films" (later retitled "The Collecting Scene") to FILMS IN REVIEW. From 1979-1994, he wrote "Letter from Hollywood" for the British annual, FILM REVIEW. From January 1989 through July 2001, Slide wrote a monthly book review column, "The Slide Area," for CLASSIC IMAGES. He has been a member of the editorial board of THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF FILM STUDIES, and a contributing editor to SUPER 8 FILMAKER.

He is the author of more than one hundred essays in the MAGILL'S SURVEY OF CINEMA series of volumes, and his articles have appeared in FOCUS ON FILM, CINEMA STUDIES, CINEASTE, FILM QUARTERLY, FILMS IN REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, EMMY, THE SILENT PICTURE, THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF FILM STUDIES, CHAPLIN, GALLERY, AMERICAN FILM, THE L.A. READER, AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, FILM COMMENT, TIME OUT, WHAT'S ON IN LONDON, FILMFAX, FILM FAN MONTHLY, DAILY VARIETY, and QUEEN'S QUARTERLY. Slide's books and articles have been published in French, German, Italian, and Swedish translations

Among the publications to which Slide has contributed essays are AMERICAN NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY (Francis X. Bushman and Allan Dwan) and Scribner's MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE WRITERS (Gay and Lesbian Mystery Fiction).

Anthony Slide is the editor of the "Filmmakers" series, published by Scarecrow Press, and numbering more than 120 volumes. He is also the editor of two more recent series, published by Scarecrow Press, "Studies and Documentation in the History of Popular Entertainment" and "Film Genre Studies." Further, he has published three books under a pseudonym, and written articles and book reviews under three different pseudonyms.



Pamphlets



LILLIAN GISH (British Film Institute, 1969)
SIR MICHAEL BALCON (British Film Institute, 1969)
FILMS ON 8mm & 16mm: A CHECKLIST OF SOURCES FOR 16mm AND 8mm RENTALS AND SALES FOR THE UNITED STATES (National Board of Review, undated)
THE FILMS OF WILL ROGERS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1979)
100 RARE BOOKS FROM THE MARGARET HERRICK LIBRARY (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1988)



Books



EARLY AMERICAN CINEMA (A.S. Barnes/A. Zwemmer, 1970; revised and rewritten edition, Scarecrow Press, 1994)
THE GRIFFITH ACTRESSES (A.S. Barnes, 1973)
THE FILMS OF D.W. GRIFFITH, with Edward Wagenknecht (Crown, 1975)
THE IDOLS OF SILENCE (A.S. Barnes, 1976)
THE BIG V: A HISTORY OF THE VITAGRAPH COMPANY (Scarecrow Press, 1976; revised edition, 1987)
EARLY WOMEN DIRECTORS (A.S. Barnes, 1977; revised edition, Da Capo, 1983)
ASPECTS OF AMERICAN FILM HISTORY PRIOR TO 1920 (Scarecrow Press, 1978)
FILMS ON FILM HISTORY (Scarecrow Press, 1980)
THE KINDERGARTEN OF THE MOVIES: A HISTORY OF THE FINE ARTS COMPANY (Scarecrow Press, 1980)
FIFTY GREAT AMERICAN SILENT FILMS: 1912-1920, with Edward Wagenknecht (Dover, 1980)
THE VAUDEVILLIANS (Arlington House, 1981)
GREAT RADIO PERSONALITIES IN HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS (Dover, 1982; revised edition, Vestal Press, 1988)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1986-1911, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1912-1920, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1921-1930, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1931-1940, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1941-1950, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO MOVIE MEMORABILIA (Wallace-Homestead, 1983)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: Foreign Films, 1930-1950, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1984)
SELECTED FILM CRITICISM: 1951-1960, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1985)
FIFTY CLASSIC BRITISH FILMS: 1932-1982 (Dover, 1985)
INTERNATIONAL FILM, RADIO, AND TELEVISION JOURNALS, editor (Greenwood Press, 1985)
THE BEST OF ROB WAGNER'S SCRIPT, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1985)
SELECTED THEATRE CRITICISM: 1900-1919, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1985)
SELECTED THEATRE CRITICISM: 1920-1930, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1985)
A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO TV MEMORABILIA (Wallace-Homestead, 1985)
SELECTED THEATRE CRITICISM: 1931-1950, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1986)
THE MOVIE POSTERS OF BATISTE MADALENA, co-editor (Harry Abrams, 1986)
THE AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY (Greenwood Press, 1986)
GREAT PRETENDERS: A HISTORY OF FEMALE AND MALE IMPERSONATION IN THE PERFORMING ARTS (Wallace-Homestead, 1986)
THE MEMOIRS OF ALICE GUY BLACHE, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1986; revised and reprinted, Scarecrow Press, 1996)
FIFTY CLASSIC FRENCH FILMS: 1912-1982 (Dover, 1987)
SELECTED RADIO AND TELEVISION CRITICISM, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1987)
SELECTED VAUDEVILLE CRITICISM, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1987)
THE CINEMA AND IRELAND (McFarland, 1988)
SOURCEBOOK FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, co-editor (Greenwood Press, 1988)
THE PICTURE DANCING ON A SCREEN: POETRY OF THE CINEMA, editor (Vestal Press, 1988)
THE INTERNATIONAL FILM INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY (Greenwood Press, 1989)
HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS: THE MEMOIRS OF A HOLLYWOOD CAMERAMAN, CHARLES G. CLARKE, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1989)
SILENT PORTRAITS (Vestal Press, 1990)
THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY: A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY (Greenwood Press, 1991)
NITRATE WON'T WAIT: A HISTORY OF FILM PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES (McFarland, 1992; paperback edition, 2000)
THEY ALSO WROTE FOR THE FAN MAGAZINES: FILM ARTICLES BY LITERARY GIANTS FROM E.E. CUMMINGS TO ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, 1920-1939 (McFarland, 1992)
THE SLIDE AREA: FILM BOOK REVIEWS, 1989-1991 (Scarecrow Press, 1992)
BEFORE VIDEO: A HISTORY OF THE NON-THEATRICAL FILM (Greenwood Press, 1992)
GAY AND LESBIAN THEMES AND CHARACTERS IN MYSTERY NOVELS (McFarland, 1993)
ROBERT GOLDSTEIN AND "THE SPIRIT OF '76," editor (Scarecrow Press, 1993)
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VAUDEVILLE (Greenwood Press, 1994)
THE HOLLYWOOD NOVEL (McFarland, 1995)
SOME JOE YOU DON'T KNOW: AN AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO BRITISH TELEVISION PERSONALITIES (Greenwood Press, 1996)
LOIS WEBER: THE DIRECTOR WHO LOST HER WAY IN HISTORY (Greenwood Press, 1996)
THE SILENT FEMINISTS: AMERICA'S FIRST WOMEN DIRECTORS (Scarecrow Press, 1996)
DIRECTING: LEARN FROM THE MASTERS by Tay Garnett, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1996)
DeTOTH ON DeTOTH: PUT THE DRAMA IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, editor (Faber and Faber, 1997)
BEFORE, IN AND AFTER HOLLYWOOD: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH HENABERY, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1997)
RAVISHED ARMENIA AND THE STORY OF AURORA MARDIGANIAN, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1997)
THE NEW HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF THE AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRY (Scarecrow Press, 1998; paperback edition, 2001)
ON ACTORS AND ACTING: ESSAYS BY ALEXANDER KNOX, editor (Scarecrow Press, 1998)
ECCENTRICS OF COMEDY (Scarecrow Press, 1998)
BANNED IN THE USA: BRITISH FILMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THEIR CENSORSHIP, 1933-1960 (I.B. Tauris/St. Martin's Press, 1998)
ACTORS ON RED ALERT: CAREER INTERVIEWS WITH FIVE ACTORS AND ACTRESSES AFFECTED BY THE BLACKLIST (Scarecrow Press, 1999)
SILENT PLAYERS: A BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF 100 SILENT FILM ACTORS AND ACTRESSES (The University Press of Kentucky, 2002)
LOST GAY NOVELS: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO FIFTY WORKS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (Haworth Press, 2003)
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITISH FILM, associate editor (Methuen, 2003)
AMERICAN RACIST: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF THOMAS DIXON (The University Press of Kentucky, 2004)
SILENT TOPICS: ESSAYS ON UNDOCUMENTED AREAS OF SILENT FILM (Scarecrow Press, 2005)
NEW YORK CITY VAUDEVILLE (Arcadia Publishing, 2006)
NOW PLAYING: HAND-PAINTED POSTER ART FROM THE 1910s THROUGH THE 1950s, with Jane Burman Powell and Lori Goldman Berthelsen (Academy Imprints/Angel City Press, 2007).
INCORRECT ENTERTAINMENT, OR, TRASH FROM THE PAST: A HISTORY OF POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS AND BAD TASTE IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE (Bear Manor Media, 2007).
FRANK LLOYD: MASTER OF SCREEN MELODRAMA (Bear Manor Media, 2009)
A MAN NAMED SMITH: THE NOVELS AND SCREEN LEGACY OF THORNE SMITH (Bear Manor Media, 2010)
INSIDE THE HOLLYWOOD FAN MAGAZINE: A HISTORY OF STAR MAKERS, FABRICATORS, AND GOSSIP MONGERS (University Press of Mississippi, 2010)
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VAUDEVILLE (reprint, University Press of Mississippi, 2012)
D.W. GRIFFITH: INTERVIEWS, editor (University Press of Mississippi, 2012)
HOLLYWOOD UNKNOWNS: A HISTORY OF EXTRAS, BIT PLAYERS, AND STAND-INS (University Press of Mississippi, 2012)
RAVISHED ARMENIA AND THE STORY OF AURORA MARDIGANIAN (University Press of Mississippi, 2014)
"IT'S THE PICTURES THAT GOT SMALL": CHARLES BRACKETT ON BILLY WILDER AND HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE (Columbia University Press)