Download or read book Jean Desmet and the Early Dutch Film Trade written by Ivo Blom and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Netherlands Film Museum's Desmet Collection contains the estate of Dutch cinema owner and film distributor Jean Desmet (1875-1956): almost nine hundred European and American films of all genres, a collection of publicity material, and a massive business archive. These three sources form the basis of this book, the first comprehensive reconstruction of Desmet's career. From his nomadic beginnings as a traveling showman to his successful switch to permanent cinema operation and film distribution, Blom shows how Desmet's fortunes encapsulated a series of structural changes within the new culture of the cinema.