Seventy Years of Cinema by Peter Cowie

New York: A.S. Barnes, 1969. First Edition - American. The copy belonged to actor Gilbert Roland and is signed by him on the front pastedown and has his blindstamp “Property of Gilbert Roland” at the front free endpaper. Oversize format, 9” x 11 1/4”, 287 pages. Illustrated throughout with black & white still photos from the films profiled in the text. About fine copy with a hint of handling in a very good slightly dust soiled dust jacket with some fading to the spine and a few tiny chips and tears. From the jacket flap: “Essentially the book is a year-by-year outline of the significant happenings in the story of the cinema beginning with 1895, which was the date that the Lumiere were given a French patent for a camera projector.” The book ends with films from 1967. Gilbert Roland (1905 - 1994) is best remembered for his roles in She Done Him Wrong (1933) with Mae West, King of the Bandits (1947), Robin Hood of Monterey (1947), and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) with Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas. Roland enjoyed a long career in both feature films and television, with many appearances in such popular series as Night Gallery, McCloud, Medical Center, and Kung Fu. (Inventory #: 22538E)