early Japanese cinema anthology / scripts

[John Gorman]

Hello,

I need help in finding the following materials:

An introductory anthology of early Japanese cinema on DVD with  
English subtitles.  I'm hoping to find something that begins at the  
inception and goes up until either the war years or the Occupation.   
I'm especially hoping for something that includes the role of  
'benshi', preferably with some footage or just stills of them in action.

A source for excerpts from Japanese movie scripts, either in Japanese  
or English.

Best regards,

John