In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants (1914)

Record Details:

Title:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants
Date:
1914
Publisher:
New York, Appeal Printing Co.
Volume:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants : record volume 5
Leaf #:
000193
Language:
English
Collection:
Government & Law and Early Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
These seven volumes contain the testimonies and supporting documents from the U.S. District Court's antitrust lawsuit against the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Formed in 1908, the MPPC (sometimes referred to asœ"the Edison Trust" or just "the Trust") sought to control the American film industry through pooling patents and demanding that producers and exhibitors acquire licenses to those patents. Independent producers and exhibitors, who refused to license the patents, argued that the MPPC was an unlawful monopoly. In 1912 and 1913, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard testimonies from both MPPC members, such as Siegmund Lubin, and "Independents" who later became Hollywood moguls, such as William Fox. Ultimately, in 1915, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the MPPC in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and spelled the end for the already weakening MPPC. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012
Date Added:
September 21, 2023
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Robert G. Peltier, Direct Examination. 2043 Thereupon, ROBERT G. PELTIER, the next witness pro * dueed by the defendants, of lawful age, being first duly sworn by the Examiner, deposed : Direct examination bv Mr. Kingsley : Q. Where do you live, Mr. Peltier? A. Mount Clemens, Michigan. Q. How long have you lived there, Mr. Peltier? A. All of my life. Q. In what business are you engaged? A. The theatrical business. Q. Are you operating any theatres in Mount Clemens? A. Yes, sir. Q. What theatre? A. The Bijou. Q. How long have you operated the Bijou? A. You want me to indicate? Well, I have operated the Bijou for six years, but I have had different theatres. Q. Please tell us what theatres you are operating, or have operated, giving the seating capacity and location of each? A. Six years ago I opened the Little Bijou, seating ninety people. The following year I enlarged it to a seating capacity of 125. I continued that for another year, and then added another theatre seating 150, and conducted the two for six months. Then, the following year I moved to another location, to one seating 220. The same year I gave that one up and built a new one, seating 425. Q. What was the name of the one seating 220? A. Two hundred and twenty? They were all of the same name, except the second one was the Majestic. I always kept the same name, the Bijou. Q. But changed the location and size? A. Yes, sir. Q. From time to time? A. Yes, sir. Q. The Bijou Theatre seats now, 425? A. I still have another one. The last theatre I built, the present theatre, seating 971. Q. And that is called the "Bijou?" A. Yes, sir. Q. Mr. Peltier, is your theatre a motion picture house? A. Well, I don't know what you would call it. I run both attractions, motion pictures and features, or also features, and a little touch of vaudeville. Q. Mostly motion pictures? A. Yes, sir.