The thesis of this classic, the major part of which was originally published in 1933, is that the peculiar virtues of film as art derive from an exploitation of the limitations of the medium: the absence of sound, the absence of color, the lack of three-dimensional depth. Silent-film artists made virtues of these necessities and were on their way to developing a new and distinctive art form. Mechanical advancement has led to greater realism and a corresponding loss in artistry. The four essays which make up the rest of the book, also dating from the 1930's, supplement this major thesis. Three of them discuss movement, editing, and the possibilities presented by television. The final one discusses the general aesthetic rules for the combination of different media--word, image, and sound--and leads to an evaluation of the talking picture as a medium for artistic expression. (Author/JK)