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Celebrate the opening of the first movie theater

by Maxine

On April 23, 1896, the first movie that was shown in a theater was seen at the Koster and Bials Music Hall in New York City. Until this time, people only saw films individually by using a kinetoscope.

Movies have dramatically changed over the years. As evidence, explore our diverse video and dvd collection including the dvd set, Treasures from American Film Archives, a four dvd set of fifty films that represent the breadth of American film making in its first one hundred years. Winner of the 2000 Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics and hailed by one critic as "...a bottomless bottle of blue tequila..," the series includes silent films, avant-garde works, documentaries and some of the earliest American films.

For books on film, read Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen by Stephanie Harrison about the process of converting thirty-five stories to the big screen including Chekhov, and Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals. Genres from science fiction to social satire are covered. Harrison enlivens her text with quotes and anecdotes from writers, directors and actors.

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