Before Hollywood, when America's rising motion picture industry was based on the East Coast, early film stars like Rudolph Valentino, Thomas Meighan, Ethel Barrymore, and Oliver Hardy made movies in St. Augustine, Florida. Silent Films in St. Augustine tells stories of the leading film producers and actors who escaped New York winters - and kept the studio doors open - in St. Augustine's sunshine and warm weather.

Thomas Graham is professor emeritus of history at Flagler College. He is the author of several books, including Mr. Flagler's St. Augustine.