Hugo Münsterberg's The Photoplay (1916) is regarded as the first serious work of film theory. In this new edition, Allan Langdale provides a critical introduction and collects numerous hard-to-find writings on film by Münsterberg.

Münsterberg argues that film is a unique medium because it speaks the language of the mind. For example, he equates the close-up with the act of attention and the flashback with the act of memory. His writings are fascinating accounts of the psychological elements of film and provide valuable insight into the reception of film as art at the beginning of the century. Hugo Münsterberg on Film will be of great interest not only to film theorists and historians, but also those interested in the history of psychology.