Judith Buchanan is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the Department of English and Related Literature, University of York.

• Preface; Introduction: wresting an alphabet; 1. Shakespeare without words: the nineteenth-century legacy; 2. Biograph's pioneering film of King John (1899); 3. Conflicted allegiances in Shakespeare films of the transitional era; 4. Corporate authorship: the Shakespeare films of the Vitagraph Company of America; 5. Pedigree and performance codes in silent films of Hamlet; 6. Shakespeare films of the 1916 tercentenary; 7. Asta Nielsen and Emil Jannings: stars of German Shakespeare films of the early 1920s; 8. Afterword: 'No tongue, all eyes! Be silent': performing wordless Shakespeare today; Filmography: A. Commercially available Shakespeare films of the silent era; B. General filmography; Bibliography.

Review of the hardback: 'This is an important contribution to the study of Shakespeare on film … it is meticulous, informative and critically sophisticated, written in a clear, persuasive and elegant style. It brings new ideas and perspectives to familiar films, stimulates interest in others and overall makes an outstanding contribution to its field.' Russell Jackson, University of Birmingham

Judith Buchanan is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the Department of English and Related Literature, University of York.

• Preface; Introduction: wresting an alphabet; 1. Shakespeare without words: the nineteenth-century legacy; 2. Biograph's pioneering film of King John (1899); 3. Conflicted allegiances in Shakespeare films of the transitional era; 4. Corporate authorship: the Shakespeare films of the Vitagraph Company of America; 5. Pedigree and performance codes in silent films of Hamlet; 6. Shakespeare films of the 1916 tercentenary; 7. Asta Nielsen and Emil Jannings: stars of German Shakespeare films of the early 1920s; 8. Afterword: 'No tongue, all eyes! Be silent': performing wordless Shakespeare today; Filmography: A. Commercially available Shakespeare films of the silent era; B. General filmography; Bibliography.

Review of the hardback: 'This is an important contribution to the study of Shakespeare on film … it is meticulous, informative and critically sophisticated, written in a clear, persuasive and elegant style. It brings new ideas and perspectives to familiar films, stimulates interest in others and overall makes an outstanding contribution to its field.' Russell Jackson, University of Birmingham

Judith Buchanan is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the Department of English and Related Literature, University of York.

• Preface; Introduction: wresting an alphabet; 1. Shakespeare without words: the nineteenth-century legacy; 2. Biograph's pioneering film of King John (1899); 3. Conflicted allegiances in Shakespeare films of the transitional era; 4. Corporate authorship: the Shakespeare films of the Vitagraph Company of America; 5. Pedigree and performance codes in silent films of Hamlet; 6. Shakespeare films of the 1916 tercentenary; 7. Asta Nielsen and Emil Jannings: stars of German Shakespeare films of the early 1920s; 8. Afterword: 'No tongue, all eyes! Be silent': performing wordless Shakespeare today; Filmography: A. Commercially available Shakespeare films of the silent era; B. General filmography; Bibliography.

Review of the hardback: 'This is an important contribution to the study of Shakespeare on film … it is meticulous, informative and critically sophisticated, written in a clear, persuasive and elegant style. It brings new ideas and perspectives to familiar films, stimulates interest in others and overall makes an outstanding contribution to its field.' Russell Jackson, University of Birmingham