A Cinema of Paper: Relocating the place of the written word in early British educational film

From the film medium’s earliest years, the written word has been integral in establishing cinema’s educational role. Yet historians have largely studied the writings by film companies as ‘paratexts’ to their films. Text was used to integrate panoramas/magic lanterns into knowledge-making, and film was no different. The prose in catalogues, pamphlets, and journalism produced by British filmmakers, served to highlight cinema’s pedagogical utility. This article foregrounds the forgotten figure of Thomas Clegg. I argue that Clegg’s innovative writings positioned the Charles Urban Trading Company as an educator. Remarkably, more than image, text was integral to selling the promise of the moving image’s unique contribution to instruction and knowledge.