One century ago this week, the May 2, 1925 edition of “Moving Picture World” carried an announcement that Warner Brothers would be acquiring all the assets of the Vitagraph Company: By this point in the industry’s development, mergers and acquisitions were by no means uncommon, but this one was especially noteworthy. Vitagraph was not an…
Tag: Motion Picture Patents Company
The Cinema Century – May 28, 1921
One century ago this week, “Moving Picture World” noted in its May 28, 1921 edition the acquisition of a cache of short films by business partners Leon Schlesinger and A.L. Feinman. In reporting the story, the trade paper uncharacteristically got one of the most salient details wrong. The story attributes the films in question to…
The Cinema Century — January 15, 1921
One century ago this week, the January 15, 1921 edition of “Motion Picture News” carried a splashy two-page ad announcing a major real estate development in Jacksonville, Florida: This ambitious project represented the culmination of the city’s efforts over the previous several years to mount a serious rivalry with Los Angeles as a production hub…
The Cinema Century – February 21, 1920
One century ago this week, the February 21, 1920 edition of “Moving Picture World” highlighted a spirited endorsement of the west coast as a venue for shooting motion pictures from producer Thomas H. Ince, by way of his director of publicity, Hunt Stromberg. One might think it hardly necessary to make such a case. The…
The Cinema Century – March 16, 1918
One century ago this week a startling ad ran in the March 16, 1918 edition of the trade publication “Moving Picture World.” The bold two-page spread was run by Carl Laemmle (LEM-lee) of Universal Pictures. In large type in the header and footer of the ad, Laemmle extended to his movie industry colleagues “An invitation…
