Have you looked at James Naremore's 'Acting in the Cinema'
which is part history, part theory. Also, there is a book
called 'Eloquent Gestures' about the transformation of acting
style in D.W. Griffith's Biograph films.

Hope this helps.

Michelle Langford

> Can anybody recommend a book on the history of acting?
> After reading a bunch of material on Welles lately I
> wanted to follow up his references to older styles and
> approaches but can't find anything.  All the books in
> our library are either how-to, specific topics or
> acting theory (and not even a history of acting
> theories).  Even if this is part of a general history
> of theatrical performance that would work but even the
> closest to that I found were textbooks that looked
> pretty tedious.
>
>
> Thanks, Lang
>
>
>
> -----------------------------
> Violinist Bauer-Lechner on Mahler:
> "The first thing he composed on paper at the
> age of six was a polka, to which he added a
> funeral march as an introduction."
>
> The Funhouse Journal
> http://wlt4.home.mindspring.com/blog/journal.htm
>
> ----
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> http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html

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