One century ago this week, the following announcement appeared in the June 7, 1924 edition of “Exhibitors Herald”: Subsequently, the following two-page ad was run in a number of industry trade papers: The Motion Picture Directors Association was not a new organization; it had been established back in 1915. Its inauguration had barely made a…
Author: admin
The Cinema Century — March 22, 1924
One century ago this week, the March 22, 1924 edition of “Motion Picture News” reported on theatrical bookings of novelty releases in 3-D. The Plastigrams process, developed by Jacob Leventhal and Frederick Ives, was not the first photographic 3-D process by any means, nor was it the first 3-D moving image process. The production and…
The Cinema Century – January 27, 1924
One century ago this week, the January 27, 1924 edition of “The Film Daily” carried this hopeful headline: The article below the headline seeks to make the case that the fear that the “radio craze” will diminish movie theater ticket sales is unfounded. The following day’s edition contained still another article citing evidence that competition…
The Cinema Century – December 11, 1923
One century ago this week, the December 11, 1923 edition of “The Film Daily” carried the following notice: Abel Gance had already left an indelible mark on cinema history with his 1923 production LA ROUE, a towering achievement that for any other filmmaker might well have served as a career-high magnum opus. But Gance was…
The Cinema Century — July 28, 1923
One century ago this week, the July 28, 1923 edition of “Exhibitors Herald” noted the imminent return of popular song and dance man Al Jolson to a movie production that he had previously abandoned: This was to have been Jolson’s first appearance in a motion picture. It would have been a notable debut, given that…
The Cinema Century – June 23, 1923
One century ago this week, the June 23, 1923 edition of “Exhibitors Herald” carried this notice: This marked Buster Keaton’s return to the Metro fold after an interim period during which he had been releasing his films through another distributor. His first stint with Metro had been announced in the April 17, 1920 edition of…
The Cinema Century – May 24, 1923
One century ago this week, the May 24, 1923 edition of “Variety” carried this item: George K. Spoor was one of the elder statesmen of the movie industry, a position that in the early 1920s was limited to those who had gotten in on the very ground floor, given that the industry as a whole…
The Cinema Century – March 3, 1923
One century ago this week, the March 3, 1923 edition of “Exhibitors Herald” carried this ominous announcement: Famous Players-Lasky, the studio that would soon change its name to “Paramount,” seemed to be about to face the music for its increasingly anti-competitive business practices. Primarily, the FTC was raising an objection to FP-L’s practice of “block…
The Cinema Century – November 18, 1922
One century ago this week, the November 18, 1922 edition of “Motion Picture News” carried the following notice: Jackie Coogan was, at the time, eight years old. Since appearing with Charlie Chaplin in THE KID in 1921, his continued popularity with movie audiences had proven that he was a bona fide star who could charm…
The Cinema Century — July 15, 1922
One century ago this week, the July 15, 1922 edition of “Motion Picture News” reported on an optimistic forecast by one of the principals in an up-and-coming production company: The C.B.C. Film Sales Company had been formed two years earlier by two ambitious entrepreneurs who had previously been employed by Carl Laemmle at Universal –…