Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface -- The silent cinema 1895-1927. The invention and innovation of the motion pictures -- The triumph of Hollywood -- Hollywood establishes the classic narrative style -- Influential alternatives to Hollywood : European cinema -- Experiments in filmmaking : the USSR -- The Hollywood studio era, 1928-1950. The coming of sound & the studio system -- The first golden age of Hollywood movie making -- European alternatives to Hollywood : France, Britain, Germany and Italy -- The television era 1951-1975. Television, wide-screen and colour -- A transformation of Hollywood movie-making -- The European art cinema alternative -- Alternative film industries : the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, South America, Australia and Japan -- The video to digital era, 1975-2010. Contemporary world cinema history : 1975 and beyond -- Hollywood thrives.