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DAVID KIEHN'S BOOK FOR SALE
DAVID KIEHN
In the process of writing a movie screenplay about the Essanay Film Company in Niles, David Kiehn took
a field trip to the town to see what he could see. That visit changed everything. Questions
came up: What brought the movie people to Niles? Who were these people? Why did they leave: How did
this affect the town? What place does it have in history? Where are the movies now? If they exist,
why aren't they ever shown?
It seemed to David that the story has never been adequately told, for, as he did more research, there were many
conflicting reports and misconceptions. He decided to set the record straight, and the way to do it was
to write a book. In seven years of intensive investigation, he has gathered a massive amount of information
and is in the process of getting it down in print.
BRONCHO BILLY AND THE ESSANAY FILM COMPANY
Here is a rare, inside look at a silent-era movie company in action. Gilbert M. Anderson was a young, failing stage actor
in 1903 when he got a job at Edison’s New York City movie studio in the ground breaking production of The Great Train Robbery.
It changed his life and helped him became a successful film producer, writer and director of silent films.
Anderson gained worldwide fame when he created and portrayed a screen cowboy called Broncho Billy. It was the prototypical western
good/badman, an outlaw with a very strong sense of moral right and wrong. Broncho Billy blazed across the silent screen
from the real western United States using actual cowboys. Anderson provides insights into the life of a filmmaker which
include all of the highs and lows. The book follows Anderson’s short but very interesting career, to how the World’s first
movie cowboy rode off into the sunset for the final time. Book contains a section on Essanay Personnel, Filmography, and
an alphabetical film listing.
It is a segment of silent movie history in 416 pages. $32.50 (44.2 oz)
BOOK IS AVAILABLE WITH OR WITHOUT AUTHOR'S AUTOGRAPH.
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