About this episode

Charlie Keil discusses the transitional era of cinema and its defining traits in relation to 1913.

Charlie Keil, Professor in the Cinema Studies Institute and the Department of History at the University of Toronto, is the author of Early American Cinema in Transition . His periodization of the transitional era, as explored in that book, ends with 1913 and his take on the traits of the time and how it shifts from the beginning of the period in 1907 defines the conversation. Charlie has also published seven other books, the most recent being The Oxford Handbook of Silent Cinema , coedited with Rob King. His next book will be Observing Film Art: Themes from the Work of David Bordwell , co-edited with Murray Smith, and due December 2026. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1913! Films and resource mentioned: Traffic in Souls (1913) - George Loane Tucker Suspense (1913) - Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley Death’s Marathon (1913) - D.W. Griffith The Mothering Heart (1913) - D.W. Griffith The Evidence of the Film (1913) - Lawrence Marston and Edward Thanhouser The Story the Biograph Told (1904) - Wallace McCutcheon, Sr. Judith of Bethulia (1914) - D.W. Griffith The Lonely Villa (1909) - D.W. Griffith The Physician of the Castle (1908) - unknown…

More episodes of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever

• 1913 E5 - Paul Gagliardi · July 8, 2026 · 42 min
• 1913 E4 - Michael Gebert · July 1, 2026 · 59 min
• 1913 E3 - Julie K Allen · June 24, 2026 · 47 min
• 1913 E2 - Shelley Stamp · June 17, 2026 · 50 min

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