Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1924)

History °f *« Picture trust's bosses t>' let him in on the ground floor with his idea and his picture. Nothing could have been more preposterous. That was just as foolish as it would be to go now and wait outside Mr. Zukor's office in Fifth Avenue for him to decide to let you in on the ground lloor of the Famous Players I. asky Corporation. It was a decidedly untimely call. The motion picture dictators of the day were looking for big things in court decisions rather than on the screen. Their problems were not problems of the motion picture, but of plain, desperate, commercial war. The Motion Picture Patents Company was suing the "Imp" and Carl Laemmle in pursuit of a permanent injunction against infringements. William Fox was suing the Patents Company to let him stay in business under license. Laemmle and P. A. Powers were lighting for the control of Universal. H. E. Aitken and John R. Freuler were promoting and building the new Mutual Film Corporation, which they were presently to fight over, and which Wall Street was in, turn selling to the public as a bonanza. There was an internal fight brewing in the General Film Company. Also everybody, licensed and independent alike, was making money— largely because at this period it was practically impossible to escape money in the motion picture business. Daniel Frohman angered his brother Charles by aligning himself with the "trivial" motion pictures. Now Charles Frohman, Inc., is owned by Fa?nous Players All in all, it may readily be seen that the motion picture was entirely too busy to listen to any outsiders. It was, from the internal point of view, no time to be starting experiments or considering revolutionary ideas. All that the men in control, and those trying for control, wanted was a good, free-handed chance to drive the status quo into a corner and milk it. That is the one outstanding fact of any period of industrial history that you may choose to examine. Neither Zukor nor his more or less new idea stuck far enough above the horizon to arrest the attention of these preoccupied film bosses, warriors, manipulators, promoters, and litigants. But Adolph Zukor was an agent [ continued on page 115 ] Adolph Zukor, then only an exhibitor, saw his big opportunity with the appearance of Sarah Bernhardt in the picture, "Queen Elizabeth," and started "Famous Players Film Co." t) EVELATIONS of the birth of the modern era of the motion picture screen in the days of 191 2 are here set forth for the first time, authenticated and interpreted in terms of stark reality. Only twelve years ago, and yet already deeply obscured by the flood of intervening events in this busy world. This chapter should carry a message of large encouragement to all those who are hopeful and ambitious. Here we see the tiny, feeble beginnings which, in this comparatively short interval of time, have grown to greatness against apparently insurmountable obstacles. There is a great lesson, a warning and an invitation in the clearly documented thesis of this history, that the art and industry of the motion picture prove a destiny more powerful than any man or group of men who rise to proclaim themselves its chieftains for their little hours of glory. The investigations of this history have, above everything else, shown that success has come only as the destiny of the screen has been served, and that a few swift years have always broken those who broke the faith. Here you can see for yourself, from the inside. James R. Quirk, Editor. 50