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Thanhouser Films

An Encyclopedia and History

By Q. David Bowers

The studio's story from Edwin Thanhouser's years in the theatre to the company's close in 1917, with an entry for every film it released and every player and employee Bowers could trace. Six years of research in the trade papers, finished in 1993, and free to read here: the history on these pages, the film and person entries across the site.

Volume I

Narrative History

Bowers tells it year by year, one chapter for each season of the studio's life. Open a year to see its sections; each reads in about five minutes, with the photographs and documents he chose.

  1. Front MatterForeword, Introduction and AcknowledgmentsBefore Chapter 1 · 4 parts · about 50 min4 parts
    1. 1Foreword7 min
    2. 2Author’s Introduction23 min
    3. 3Author’s Acknowledgments and Credits14 min
    4. 4Author’s Notes on Style6 min
  2. Early LifeThe Early Life of Edwin ThanhouserChapter 1 · 14 sections · about 1 hr 20 min14 sections
    1. 1Edwin Thanhouser’s ParentsIllustrated3 min
    2. 2The Early Life of Edwin Thanhouser2 min
    3. 3Alexander Salvini4 min
    4. 4On the Road with SalviniIllustrated4 min
    5. 5On Tour with Thoroughbred7 min
    6. 6Sowing the WindIllustrated4 min
    7. 7Under the Red Robe12 min
    8. 8The Changing Times of 1898Illustrated4 min
    9. 9Milwaukee and Further SuccessIllustrated10 min
    10. 10Romance Comes to Edwin ThanhouserIllustrated8 min
    11. 11Gertrude F. HomanIllustrated8 min
    12. 12Success Continues at the Academy5 min
    13. 13New Arrangements4 min
    14. 14Exit MilwaukeeIllustrated6 min
  3. 1909Into the Film IndustryChapter 2 · 24 sections · about 1 hr 45 min24 sections
    1. 1Investigating the Field1 min
    2. 2Background of the IndustryIllustrated6 min
    3. 3Motion Picture TheatresIllustrated7 min
    4. 4New Firms Enter the Field2 min
    5. 5The TrustIllustrated6 min
    6. 6Thanhouser BeginsIllustrated4 min
    7. 7In Edwin Thanhouser’s Own Words1 min
    8. 8Early Thanhouser Film Production2 min
    9. 9Barry O’Neil Remembers2 min
    10. 10Victor Heerman’s Recollections3 min
    11. 11Equipping the Film Factory1 min
    12. 12Edwin Thanhouser Interviewed8 min
    13. 13A Visit to New Rochelle4 min
    14. 14A Local Reporter VisitsIllustrated7 min
    15. 15Cameras4 min
    16. 16Motion Picture PhotographyIllustrated5 min
    17. 17It Wasn’t Easy2 min
    18. 18Additional Reminiscences4 min
    19. 19Scenarios9 min
    20. 20Actors and Actresses4 min
    21. 21Advertising and News Releases3 min
    22. 22Distribution2 min
    23. 23Growing Pains of the Independents15 min
    24. 24Censorship1 min
  4. 1910Film Production BeginsChapter 3 · 8 sections · about 1 hr 10 min8 sections
    1. 1Film Production BeginsIllustrated6 min
    2. 2The First Release9 min
    3. 3Spying on Thanhouser5 min
    4. 4St. Elmo and Onward10 min
    5. 5Shakespeare on the Screen15 min
    6. 6Thanhouser Quality Commended10 min
    7. 7An Overdose of Brandy10 min
    8. 8Ten Nights in a Bar Room7 min
  5. 1911Building a Reputation of QualityChapter 4 · 21 sections · about 2 hr 35 min21 sections
    1. 1Thanhouser and the Industry6 min
    2. 2“The Picture As It Is”10 min
    3. 3Thanhouser Releases9 min
    4. 4Only in the WayIllustrated3 min
    5. 5The Sales Company Ball19 min
    6. 6Thanhouser Players Meet Their Audiences8 min
    7. 7Comeuppance for the “Mirror”7 min
    8. 8The Railroad Builder9 min
    9. 9First Anniversary of the Sales Company5 min
    10. 10Halfway Around the World in 15 Minutes8 min
    11. 11A Hidden Fortune10 min
    12. 12Edwin Thanhouser Interviewed8 min
    13. 13Enter James Cruze8 min
    14. 14The First Two-Reeler6 min
    15. 15Florence LaBadie2 min
    16. 16Young Lochinvar5 min
    17. 17Filming a Disaster7 min
    18. 18The Greatest Thanhouser Ever6 min
    19. 19Through the Autumn11 min
    20. 20Edwin Thanhouser on Censorship4 min
    21. 211911 in Review5 min
  6. 1912Expansion to Florida, Under the Mutual BannerChapter 5 · 24 sections · about 2 hr 55 min24 sections
    1. 1Thanhouser and the Industry in 1912Illustrated2 min
    2. 2To the Sunshine StateIllustrated3 min
    3. 3The Motion Picture Industry in Florida4 min
    4. 4A Visit to New RochelleIllustrated3 min
    5. 5Early 1912 ReleasesIllustrated13 min
    6. 6The Feature Film4 min
    7. 7Dickens Again6 min
    8. 8The Mutual Film CorporationIllustrated24 min
    9. 9Under the Mutual Banner2 min
    10. 10Little Alice8 min
    11. 11Dora ThorneIllustrated5 min
    12. 12Miss Snows Narrow Escape13 min
    13. 13Films From the Inventory4 min
    14. 14Unusual Reviews8 min
    15. 15Shylock Interpreted8 min
    16. 16The Thanhouser Twins Again10 min
    17. 17Behind the Lines6 min
    18. 18September and Onward12 min
    19. 19On to Europe7 min
    20. 20CuddebackvilleIllustrated6 min
    21. 21Laughter on the Screen5 min
    22. 22An $8,000 Production8 min
    23. 23Changes5 min
    24. 24Westward Ho8 min
  7. 1913The Studio Burns, California ProductionsChapter 6 · 26 sections · about 3 hr 20 min26 sections
    1. 1Getting Settled in CaliforniaIllustrated4 min
    2. 2The Changing Programs3 min
    3. 3Early January FilmsIllustrated4 min
    4. 4On a Monday Afternoon1 min
    5. 5When the Studio BurnedIllustrated15 min
    6. 6A First-Hand Report2 min
    7. 7The Thanhouser Kid is Unaware3 min
    8. 8A Visitor From Canada1 min
    9. 9Dramatizing the FireIllustrated11 min
    10. 10Rebuilding the StudioIllustrated19 min
    11. 11Helping the Fire VictimsIllustrated7 min
    12. 12A Confused Schedule of Releases6 min
    13. 13Flames and Misrepresentation11 min
    14. 14The Release Schedule ContinuesIllustrated17 min
    15. 15Changes5 min
    16. 16An American in the Making12 min
    17. 17Around the StudioIllustrated6 min
    18. 18The June ScheduleIllustrated2 min
    19. 19Muriel Ostriche6 min
    20. 20Maude Fealy16 min
    21. 21Midsummer Releases6 min
    22. 22To Cape MayIllustrated7 min
    23. 23Robin Hood4 min
    24. 24Princess19 min
    25. 25The Thanhouser Kid Comes of Age7 min
    26. 26Thanhouser and the Industry7 min
  8. 1914Into the Serial Game, TragedyChapter 7 · 47 sections · about 4 hr 10 min47 sections
    1. 1The Year Begins6 min
    2. 2A Memorable Anniversary5 min
    3. 3Charles Hite’s Observations3 min
    4. 4Problems in New Rochelle16 min
    5. 5Thanhouser on the Spot5 min
    6. 6Other February Releases2 min
    7. 7March Releases6 min
    8. 8Vice and Sex3 min
    9. 9Into the Serial Game5 min
    10. 10Muriel’s Birthday5 min
    11. 11A Theatre on Broadway5 min
    12. 12An Outlaw Comes to Town6 min
    13. 13New Rochelle vs. Broadway5 min
    14. 14The Release Schedule Continues5 min
    15. 15How Carroll Fleming Did It4 min
    16. 16Other June Releases4 min
    17. 17Debut of the Serial2 min
    18. 18A Behind the Scenes Account11 min
    19. 19Ramsaye’s Story5 min
    20. 20Filming Episode No. 19 min
    21. 21Episode No. 1 on the Screen2 min
    22. 22Promoting the Serial4 min
    23. 23Mutual Affairs4 min
    24. 24The Serial Continues6 min
    25. 25Phony News Releases2 min
    26. 26Thanhouser ParkIllustrated3 min
    27. 27The Regular Release Schedule4 min
    28. 28In the Briny Deep6 min
    29. 29The Trust Flexes Its Muscles5 min
    30. 30August Releases2 min
    31. 31The Regular Schedule Continues3 min
    32. 32Tragedy8 min
    33. 33Edwin Thanhouser Returns to America14 min
    34. 34Business on Broadway6 min
    35. 35Meanwhile at the Studio10 min
    36. 36A Regatta on Film10 min
    37. 37The Cripple and Other Releases2 min
    38. 38Autumn Activities7 min
    39. 39Edwin Thanhouser’s Plans8 min
    40. 40Great Expectations4 min
    41. 41Zudora Begins4 min
    42. 42Zudora in Trouble4 min
    43. 43Financial Shenanigans7 min
    44. 44December Films3 min
    45. 45Shep2 min
    46. 46Thanhouser Publicity4 min
    47. 47Muriel and Boyd4 min
  9. 1915Edwin Thanhouser Returns, New VenturesChapter 8 · 45 sections · about 3 hr 15 min45 sections
    1. 1Thanhouser and the IndustryIllustrated6 min
    2. 2Thanhouser Serials2 min
    3. 3The Mystery Concluded6 min
    4. 4January Releases3 min
    5. 5Thanhouserites Make Plans3 min
    6. 6The Thanhouser Players Theatre4 min
    7. 7The Neptune Theatre4 min
    8. 8February Films3 min
    9. 9Edwin Thanhouser10 min
    10. 10March Releases2 min
    11. 11Edwin Thanhouser Takes Charge4 min
    12. 12More Changes2 min
    13. 13Mutual Masterpictures4 min
    14. 14Corporate Changes4 min
    15. 15A Serious Accident4 min
    16. 16Films From the Backlog1 min
    17. 17Falstaff Films3 min
    18. 18A Day With Edwin Thanhouser9 min
    19. 19Mutual Recognizes Edwin Thanhouser2 min
    20. 20Phony News Articles4 min
    21. 21At the New Rochelle Studio6 min
    22. 22Their One LoveIllustrated5 min
    23. 23More Changes8 min
    24. 24The Wreck of the Henrietta4 min
    25. 25War on Glen Island11 min
    26. 26Social Responsibility2 min
    27. 27The Flying Twins5 min
    28. 28A Flood in Pennsylvania1 min
    29. 29Mutual News3 min
    30. 30Thanhouser News6 min
    31. 31A $5,000 Bet4 min
    32. 32Changing Faces at the Studio6 min
    33. 33September Films3 min
    34. 34A View of the Studio3 min
    35. 35Edwin Thanhouser on Film Quality6 min
    36. 36Florida PlansIllustrated9 min
    37. 37Industry News3 min
    38. 38October Films4 min
    39. 39On to Florida2 min
    40. 40The Seven-Day Poison4 min
    41. 41Nudity on the Screen8 min
    42. 42A Danish Beauty2 min
    43. 43Jacksonville8 min
    44. 44December Releases2 min
    45. 45The Year in Review1 min
  10. 1916Return to Florida, Pathé AllianceChapter 9 · 34 sections · about 2 hr 30 min34 sections
    1. 1The Jacksonville StudioIllustrated2 min
    2. 2A Tour of the Studio6 min
    3. 3New Rochelleans Head Sunward5 min
    4. 4Thanhouser Tidbits6 min
    5. 5Edwin Thanhouser Meets the President1 min
    6. 6The 1916 Schedule BeginsIllustrated7 min
    7. 7Florence LaBadieIllustrated2 min
    8. 8Jacksonville in the SpotlightIllustrated6 min
    9. 9February FilmsIllustrated5 min
    10. 10Jacksonville News4 min
    11. 11Other Thanhouser and Industry Events7 min
    12. 12What Doris Did4 min
    13. 13What Might Have Been7 min
    14. 14More About Jacksonville3 min
    15. 15Minstrelsy2 min
    16. 16Thanhouser Classics4 min
    17. 17Melodrama in Florida7 min
    18. 18Goodbye to Jacksonville7 min
    19. 19Mutual Day2 min
    20. 20Trouble in Paradise3 min
    21. 21The June Schedule5 min
    22. 22Changes5 min
    23. 23The End of an Era2 min
    24. 24The Alliance with Pathé4 min
    25. 25The Pathé Exchange, Inc5 min
    26. 26The First Pathé Releases5 min
    27. 27Florence LaBadie Scores a Success6 min
    28. 28October News3 min
    29. 29October Releases3 min
    30. 30November Notes3 min
    31. 31Hidden Valley5 min
    32. 32December Events3 min
    33. 33December Films6 min
    34. 34The Year in Review3 min
  11. 1917Feature Films, Thanhouser Exits the IndustryChapter 10 · 12 sections · about 1 hr 5 min12 sections
    1. 1The Year Begins3 min
    2. 2Early 1917 ReleasesIllustrated6 min
    3. 3February Events12 min
    4. 4Peggy in the Kitchen6 min
    5. 5Big Plans7 min
    6. 6Frederick Warde Scores a Success6 min
    7. 7Trouble with Pathé8 min
    8. 8Reminiscences4 min
    9. 9Clara Kimball Young2 min
    10. 10Florence LaBadieIllustrated1 min
    11. 11September Releases6 min
    12. 12Finis6 min
  12. EpilogueThanhouser Films ReissuesChapter 11 · 8 sections · about 35 min8 sections
    1. 1Epilogue1 min
    2. 2Events of 19185 min
    3. 3Thanhouser Film Reissues1 min
    4. 4The Studio in Later Years3 min
    5. 5Edwin Thanhouser’s RetirementIllustrated7 min
    6. 6Edwin Thanhouser: Art CollectorIllustrated4 min
    7. 7Interviews9 min
    8. 8Lloyd and Marie Thanhouser3 min

Volumes II and III

Joined to the films and the people

Bowers wrote an entry for every film and a biography for every player and employee he could trace. Here, each entry sits on its film's or person's page, word for word, next to the film itself, the posters and the photographs. Search finds them all.

The standalone filmography and biographies, as Bowers arranged them, are preserved in the 2013 web edition.

Visit the 2013 web edition
Volume II · Filmography1,077film entries: cast, credits, synopsis and the trade-paper reviews, each on its film's pageBrowse the filmsVolume III · Biographies1,017biographies of players, directors, writers and crew, each on that person's pageBrowse the people

The story of this book

Too big to print

Bowers wrote more than 3,000 articles for a three-volume reference set. When the publisher found it too costly to print, Ned Thanhouser, Edwin's grandson, published it on CD-ROM, and later on the web. This is its fourth edition.

Read Ned Thanhouser's account, From Print to Digital to AI
The home screen of the 1997 CD-ROM
The CD-ROM's home screen, 1997.
  1. 1987

    Bowers' book on the actress Muriel Ostriche, a Thanhouser star in over 65 films, draws him to the studio.

  2. 1988

    Anthony Slide introduces Ned Thanhouser to Bowers. "Thanhouser Night" at Iona College, New Rochelle.

  3. 1993

    The finished manuscript, on a dozen Macintosh floppy disks, goes to the publisher. Printed out, it fills seven binders.

  4. 1996

    The print edition is abandoned as too expensive for its market.

  5. 1997

    The CD-ROM, built with Microsoft's Multimedia Viewer, launches at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival on October 11.

  6. 2013

    New versions of Windows can no longer run the CD-ROM. A web edition replaces it, free to everyone.

  7. 2026

    This edition: the history in sections with its illustrations, and the entries joined to the films.

“As a good story and a resource for primary documents, it is marvellous.”

Kathryn Helgesen Fuller, Journal for MultiMedia History, 1999

About this edition

What changed, and what didn't

The 2013 web edition is kept exactly as it was, for anyone who wants the original.

Visit the 2013 web edition
  • Not a word of Bowers' text is changed.
  • Volume I is divided into Bowers' own 263 sections, each on its own page, with his 70 illustrations back in place.
  • Volumes II and III appear on the film and person pages.
  • Bowers' appendices (releases abroad, surviving films, the bibliography and others) stay in the 2013 web edition.
  • Every address from the 2013 web edition still works: it leads to the same text here, or to the preserved edition.
Cite asBowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Portland, OR: Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, 2026. thanhouser.org/encyclopedia/
Q. David Bowers
Q. David BowersHistorian and author of more than three dozen books, including Muriel Ostriche: Princess of Silent Films and Nickelodeon Theatres.