Henry James and Early Film

Although Henry James was alert to contemporary culture and media in the years when film was invented and institutionalized, he attended few early films and mentioned them infrequently in his work. James's work parallels many of the most salient features of this rapidly developing new form. Comparing his works with the films of G.A. Smith, this article argues that the two share a remarkably similar set of techniques and thematic obsessions and helps us to understand both the dynamics of early film and the relentless experimentation of the high cultural Master of the Art of Fiction.