Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Table of Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. FOREWORD xi
5. Persons Discussed in Flickering Empire xv
6. PREFACE: Hollywood Before Hollywood 1
7. Part One: Thomas Edison, Invention and the Dawn of a New Chicago
8. 1. Edison’s Kinetoscope and Pre-Motion-Picture Entertainment 9
9. 2. The Columbian Exposition 19
10. 3. The Dawn of Exhibition 28
11. Part Two: Chicago Rising
12. 4. Colonel William Selig 41
13. 5. George Spoor, George Kleine, and the Rise of the Nickelodeon 53
14. 6. Gilbert “Broncho Billy” Anderson 67
15. 7. The Edison Trust 77
16. Part Three: The Golden Age of Chicago Film Production
17. 8. The Golden Age of Essanay 89
18. 9. The Golden Age of Selig Polyscope 103
19. 10. Essanay Signs Charlie Chaplin 120
20. 11. Chaplin in Chicago: His New Job 131
21. Part Four: It All Came Crashing Down
22. 12. The Decline Of The Chicago Studios 147
23. 13. Major M.L.C. Funkhouser And The Chicago Censorship Code 160
24. Epilogue 168
25. Post-Script: Oscar and Orson 177
26. Appendix A: Selig Polyscope’s Pointers on Picture Acting 185
27. Appendix B: A Complete List of the Extant Chicago-Shot Films Named in this Book and Where to See Them 189
28. Appendix C: Some Censored Scenes of Chicago Films Noted in Local Newspapers 193
29. Endnotes 197
30. Index 208