Profit Margins: The American Silent Cinema and the Marginalization of Advertising, by Jeremy Groskopf

Jeremy Groskopf's thoughtful publication, Profit Margins: The American Silent Cinema and the Marginalization of Advertising, offers a much-needed examination of the symbiotic interplay between early American cinema and advertising from the late 1890s to the late 1920s, spotlighting how silent films served as both a reflection and a catalyst for the burgeoning advertising industry of the early twentieth century. Groskopf's insightful analysis provides a fresh perspective on how silent cinema not only used advertising but was also used by advertisers to reach a broader audience, thereby influencing consumer culture and social norms. Through detailed investigation into the silent film era, including the use of evocative literary terms like nickelodeon, which hark back to a time long past, Groskopf unearths its role in developing advertising practices that have since become foundational to the film and theatre industry.