Eighty good-sized biographies of significant silent-era players hard to find in other reference works, and almost nowhere at this length. The villains and sidekicks of two-reelers (Jim Corey, Nelson McDowell), cowboy action stars (Jack Hoxie, Art Acord, Hoot Gibson, et al.), comedians, character actors, matinee idols and other talented and reliable performers. Katchmer, a retired football coach, wrote biographical articles on silent film stars for Classic Images , a film tabloid. This book is a collection of those articles. Unfortunately, the work is marred by a bland, innocuous, anecdotal style. These nonscholarly articles are also heavily sanitized, with hardly a negative word about any of the subjects. The filmographies which end each article have been updated and are quite impressive. The articles concern only male performers, and none of the major or more familiar silent film stars such as Lon Chaney, Rudolph Valentino, or Tom Mix are included. Those who receive coverage are mostly serial stars, minor Western leads, matinee idols, villains, comedians, strongmen, action stars. Some of the actors will be familiar to film lovers. However, at least one performer was so obscure even the author couldn't identify him. Only for hardcore silent film fans. - Marianne Cawley, Kingwood Branch Lib., Tex. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. "[covers] serial stars, minor Western leads, matinee idols, villains, comedians, strongmen, action stars...filmographies are quite impressive" -- Library Journal "anyone with an interest in silent films will...find quite a few favorites.... Recommended" -- Classic Images "lively, carefully researched biographies...belongs in all serious film collections" -- Choice