Juan Monroy — American Film Industry: Class 2: Edison, Nickelodeons, and the Trust

Edison and the Beginnings of Film Commerce
Edison Captures Motion
- Kinetograph apparatus that produced the pictures
  - Dickson Camera Test (1891)
  - Men Boxing (1891)
  - Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894)
- Kinetoscope peep-show viewing machine that exhibited them
- exhibition at Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, May 1893
Edison Markets Movies
- Edison Manufacturing Company spring 1894
  - making and selling Kinetoscope and Kinetophone
  - movies produced by expert techinicians
- Kinetoscope Company spun off from the Edison Manufacturing Company, April 1894
  - marketing short films
  - distributing equipment
  - outfitted kinetoscope parlors
    - Holland Brothers Kinetoscope Parlor on Broadway in New York City
    - patrons paid 25¢ to view a row of kinetoscope machines
    - kinetoscopes boomed in major US cities in 1894
- kinetoscope films
  - Athlete with Wand (1894)
  - Boxing Cats (1894)
  - Fireman Rescuing Men and Women (1901)
Edison Projects Movies
- Louis and Auguste Lumiere
  - developed cinematographe in Paris, December 28, 1895
    - camera
    - projector
    - Grand Café screenings
  - filmed actualities
- Edison solves film breakage dillemma
  - Film would break in Edison’s early projectors
  - Latham Loop
    - designed by Woodville, Gray, and Otway Latham
    - used a pair of gears to minimize the tension created by the take up reel
    - allowed for films longer than 100 feet in length
  - Edison’s Projector: Vitascope
    - premiered April 23, 1896 at Koster’s and Bial’s Music Hall on Broadway
    - live orchestra was on hand
    - established new invention of publicly screened motion pictures
    - films would mature as narrative made films more distinct
From Kinetoscope to Nickelodeons
Kinetoscope Parlors
- peaked in popularity in 1894
Vaudeville and Make-Shift Theaters
- following vaudeville strike, movies were shown in vaudeville theaters
- saloons
- penny arcades
- during intermissions at theater productions
Nickelodeons
- attendant with rise of story films
- specialized storefront theaters
- cinema-only venues
- admission price: 5¢ to view a program of short movies
- boomed in large cities
- incorporated in shopping districts
- working-class audiences
- weekly program changes put demand on production
- risk of fire
- concern about immigrants and working poor being improperly indoctrinated
Edwin S. Porter
- Gay Shoe Clerk (1903)
- Jack and the Beanstalk (1902)
- The Great Train Robbery (1902)
- Life of an American Fireman (1903)
- The Kleptomaniac (1905)
The Consolidation of the Trust
Movies were on the decline in 1908
- Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest
Edison established the MPPC December 1908
- Edison
- Biograph
- Vitagraph
- Essanay
- Kalem
- Selig Polyscope
- Lubin
- Star Film
- Pathé Frères
- Kleine Optical
Aims of the Trust
- Consolidated patents into a pool
- fix prices
- restrict the distribution and exhibtion of foreign-made films
- regulate domestic program
- control film licensing
- had exclusive access to raw film stock, via Eastman Kodak
Effects of the Trust
- put independents out of business
- financial boon for its members
- bigger profits allowed for investment in streamlining production
Innovations of the Trust
- established an exchange system
- standardized the movies length at one reel
- pricing per reel was also standardized
- negotiated fire insurance coverage for nickelodeons
General Film Company
- served as distribution brokers
- bought prints from studios
- sold them to studios
- established an “exchange” system
Fall of the Trust
- Motion Picture Distribution and Sales Company
  - Carl Laemmle
  - William Fox
  - Adolph Zukor
  - began marketing multi-reel films
- Kodak leaves the Trust
  - did not have a profit sharing interest in the Trust
  - began selling film to independents
- MPPC v. IMP (1912) reaches US district court
  - Trust sued over the use of a camera
  - court threw out the Latham loop patent
  - independents could begin producing more freely with formerly licensed equipment
- Trust Grows Stale
  - audiences grew tired of single reel
  - standard pricing did not encourage innovative filmmaking
  - independents grew more popular and took over the film industry