Disappearing Tricks by Matthew Solomon - 9780252076978

University of Illinois Press

Disappearing TricksSilent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century\nAuthor(s): Matthew Solomon\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University of Illinois Press, United States\nImprint: University of Illinois Press\nISBN-13: 9780252076978, 978-0252076978\nSynopsis\nDisappearing Tricks revisits the golden age of theatrical magic and silent film to reveal how professional magicians shaped the early history of cinema. Where others have called upon magic as merely an evocative metaphor for the wonders of cinema, Matthew Solomon focuses on the work of the professional illusionists who actually made magic with moving pictures between 1895 and 1929.\n\nThe first to reveal fully how powerfully magic impacted the development of cinema, the book combines film and theater history to uncover new evidence of the exchanges between magic and filmmaking in the United States and France during the silent period. Chapters detailing the stage and screen work of Harry Houdini and Georges Mlis .