TWO REELS AND A CRANK: From Nickelodeon to Picture Palaces by Smith, Alfred E. in collaboration with Phil A. Koury - 1952

Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1952. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 285 p. 16 pp. photographs and illustrations. Classic account of the founding and evolution of Vitagraph Studios, and Smith's many adventures turning the crank on Vitagraph films which included covering the Boer War in South Africa and filming Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill in Cuba. Smith (1875-1958), an English stage magician, film director, and producer, founded Vitagraph with his business partner James Stuart Blackton in 1897, and built the company into one of the most prolific studios of the silent era. Inscribed by Smith on the half-title. Octavo. Original blue cloth binding, with burgundy titles. Mild fading along the extremities of the boards, with some light edgewear and creasing to the dust jacket; otherwise very good. Inscribed by Author.