The Hammy Old Days
Actors depend upon their ability to gesticulate as much as upon speech to
obtain their desired histrionic effects. With them, gesture serves much more
than merely to augment speech. When their communication is by gesture alone,
it is called pantomime. In the early silent motion picture period, gestures
are flamboyant. To show that he was distraught about the danger in which the
heroine had been placed, the hero would go through the most fatuous actions.
He would stagger, beat his breast, tear his hair, and contort his face into
the most doleful appearance. There weren't many simple or restrained gestures
in his repertoire. The heroine, to indicate her love, would fling her arms
wide and ardently jump into her sweetheart's arms. It was only later that
actors became skilled enough to communicate with the audience through discreet
gestures and almost imperceptible changes in facial expression which could
transmit nuances of emotion.


to have at one's finger-tips---to have thorough knowledge , to have ready.
He had at his finger-tips an extensive repertoire.