Film History 1895 to about 1914
EARLY CINEMA
Movies in America
 They began in the East Coast of the United
States
 New York was the center for cinema at one
time.
 But there were problems with having the film
industry there.
 Inconsistent.
Problems and Solutions
 As the cinema became popular there was a
need to meet the demand.
 So the film industry moved to….
 HOLLYWOOD where it remains today.
First Film Studio
 Hollywood – founded in 1909 by the Selig
Polyscope company.
 They rented the back lot of a Chinese laundry
on Olive Street.
 Today there are more than a dozen film
companies, with the largest being Warner
Bros, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal,
Fox and Disney
Other fun facts
 Studios were also in New Mexico and other
parts of the country.
 They too moved to the Los Angeles area due
to cost issues.
 The thinking was – why travel to these areas,
when we can build sets that resemble these
areas. (Hence Universal Studios).
The impact of Early Cinema
 Was a past time and in today’s standards was
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considered Pop-culture.
One of modern industrial inventions.
Thomas Edison’s First Projected and screened
moving picture in 1896.
With help from W.K.L Dickson, Edison
adapted the phonograph.
This was done by “borrowing” ideas from the
French.
Edison goes to France
 In 1888
 Etienne Marey builds a box type moving
picture camera which uses an intermittent
mechanism and strips of paper film.
 In 1888 Edison travels to Paris and sees this
device. The device uses flexible film.
 Dickson acquires some Eastman Kodak film
and starts to develop a new machine.
The Kinetograph is developed
 This was developed in 1891.
 1893: Dickson and Edison build a film studio
in New Jersey.
 First film “The Black Maria.”
Film further influenced by..
 Henry Ford’s first motor vehicle in 1896.
 This allowed for quick transportation modes.
 Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone (1876(
 Films continue to stay current no matter the
era because they adapt to technology and
make it part of the film – like texting bubbles
today.
Motion Pictures Patents Co.
Trust
 Formed in 1908 by Edison.
 This was the first film industry to monopolize
the production and distribution of American
movies.
 Used Henry Ford’s efficiency model.
(Distribution).
 First films of MPPC Trust – The Great Train
Robbery (1903).
MPPC Interests
 They believed that most people that went to
the movies were the elite.
 Did not believe that the audience who went
to films were immigrants, and working class
patrons.
 They didn’t believe they could sit and watch a
film longer than 4 reels or 16 to 20 minutes.
Competitions from
Independents
 Independent film makers – Carl Laemmle,
William Fox and Adoph Zukor.
 Attributed to “inventing” Hollywood.
 These three were first generation
immigrants.
Filmmakers
 Edwin S. Porter – he introduced story films for
the Edison Manufacturing Company.
 He is known for editing – taking scene shots
from different times and places and piecing
them together (Encyclopedia Britannica).
His film, “The Great Train Robbery,” was
acclaimed as the first successful film to
establish continuous shots.
D.W. Griffith
 First director-auteur. He is credited for creating
many basic film techniques used today.
 He screened his films to the working class.
 Used movies as a means to bring about change
and raise awareness.
 1915 – “Birth of a Nation.” Captured violence and
excitement of War (PBS).
 He used extreme and dramatic camera angles,
interweaved edits.
 Film is attributed to raise of KKK, and riots in
Black communities.
Intolerance (1916) Griffith
 A plea for understanding as social reformers
sought censorship for the film “Birth of a
Nation.”
 Film introduced narrative complexity, and
intertwined separate stories from different
eras.
 His films had sophisticated set designs.
 (Source – PBS.org).
Mack Sennett
 Former Vaudeville
 He introduced “comedy”
 His films had stunts, and exploited physical
and geographic stereotypes.
 Made films for Keystone Studios.
Influence of Films
 Cautionary messages – Evils of modernity
and urbanization.
 Commentary on changing economy and
political culture.
 Nostalgia for simpler times.
 Comedies – Showed an impatience with
puritanical morality of 19th century.
Silent Film
Silent Films
 Accompanied Postwar Optimism and an
economic boom.
 Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties = Became
the age when movie stars became popular.
 Rudolph Valentino
 Theda Bara
 They were seen as those who could embody
dangerous sexuality in an era that was known
for urbanization, immigration and loosening
of moral codes.
Actors
 Wallace Reid, Mary Pickford, Douglas
Fairbanks and more…
 Represented ideals – healthy, beauty and
prosperity.
 Actors became the reason why people went
to the movies.
 Couldn’t have a movie without a star.
1920s Studio Managers
 Mostly Eastern European Jewish Immigrants
found success operated the industry.
 Laemmle (Universal)
 William Fox (Fox)
 Adolph Zukor (Paramount)
 Marcus Loew (MGM)
 Sam, Harry, Jack and Albert Warner (Warner
Bros.)
 These guys were businessmen – and not artists
or Filmmakers.
Directors in the 1920s
 D.W. Griffith
 Cecil B. DeMille
 Erich von Stroheim
 F.W. Murnau
 They all specialized in melodramas
Comedy Pioneers
 Charlie Chaplin
 Buster Keaton
 Harold Lloyd
 Laid the groundwork for contradictions
between the American ideal and the realities
of class difference; between freedoms and
pleasures promised by modern life then; loss
of traditional values
Opportunities for Women
 Women could write and direct
 June Mathis – “The Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse,” starring Rudolph Valentino
(1921) directed by Rex Ingram.
 Jeannie Macpherson – “The Cheat” (1915)
 Frances Marion – won Oscars for “The Big
House,” (1930) directed by George W. Hill.
And King Vidor’s “The Champ.” (1931)
Women in Filmmaking
 Alice Guy – or Alice Guy Blache – “The Making
of an American Ciziten” (1912) – considered
one of the first Female Directors if not THE
first.
 Louis Weber – “The Merchant of Venice,”
(1914).
 Dorothy Arzner – “The Wild Party,” (1929)
Women in the industry
 As actors – celebrated for their beauty.
 Took on traditional “house wife” roles.
 Seen as the center for morals and values.
 As Filmmakers (writers or directors) they
were seen as having the insight to emotion.
Assignment for Thursday
 Continue reading Chapter 9
 If you did not have the book and still need to
do the assignment from this past week (page
18 and19 of book) do so and have it ready to
turn in on Thursday.