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1913 · The Studio Burns, California ProductionsSection 18 of 26 · show all
  1. 1Getting Settled in California
  2. 2The Changing Programs
  3. 3Early January Films
  4. 4On a Monday Afternoon
  5. 5When the Studio Burned
  6. 6A First-Hand Report
  7. 7The Thanhouser Kid is Unaware
  8. 8A Visitor From Canada
  9. 9Dramatizing the Fire
  10. 10Rebuilding the Studio
  11. 11Helping the Fire Victims
  12. 12A Confused Schedule of Releases
  13. 13Flames and Misrepresentation
  14. 14The Release Schedule Continues
  15. 15Changes
  16. 16An American in the Making
  17. 17Around the Studio
  18. 18The June Schedule
  19. 19Muriel Ostriche
  20. 20Maude Fealy
  21. 21Midsummer Releases
  22. 22To Cape May
  23. 23Robin Hood
  24. 24Princess
  25. 25The Thanhouser Kid Comes of Age
  26. 26Thanhouser and the Industry

Section 18 of 26

The June Schedule

Q. David Bowers, Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. About 2 min.

The Thanhouser Kid and Kidlet were prominently featured in Thanhouser marketing efforts. Postcard courtesy Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.
The Thanhouser Kid and Kidlet were prominently featured in Thanhouser marketing efforts. Postcard courtesy Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.

In mid-1913, the primary program releases were those of the Patents Company, Universal, Mutual, and Exclusive Supply, with the last-named, a new entry, rapidly carving a niche for itself. The old-line Patents Company program remained very crowded. The release days were as follows:1

PATENTS COMPANY FILMS:

Monday: Biograph, Edison, Kalem, Lubin, Pathéplay (Pathé Weekly newsreel), Selig (2 reels), Vitagraph

Tuesday: Cin-es, Edison, Essanay, Lubin, Pathéplay, Selig, Vitagraph

Wednesday: Eclipse, Edison, Essanay, Kalem, Lubin (2 reels), Pathéplay, Selig, Vitagraph

Thursday: Biograph, Essanay, Lubin, Méliès, Pathéplay, Selig, Vitagraph

Friday: Edison, Essanay, Kalem, Lubin, Pathéplay (a 2-reel film plus a 1-reel film), Selig, Vitagraph

Saturday: Biograph, Cin-es, Edison, Essanay, Kalem, Lubin, Pathéplay, Vitagraph (a 2-reel film plus a 1-reel film)

UNIVERSAL FILMS:

Sunday: Crystal, Eclair, Rex

Monday: IMP, Nestor

Tuesday: Gem, 101 Bison (2 reels),2 Crystal

Wednesday: Nestor, Powers, Eclair (2 reels), Universal Animated Weekly

Thursday: IMP, Rex, Frontier

Friday: Nestor, Powers (2 reels), Victor

Saturday: IMP, 101 Bison (2 reels), Frontier

MUTUAL FILMS:

Sunday: Majestic, Thanhouser

Monday: American (2 reels), Keystone, Reliance

Tuesday: Majestic, Thanhouser (Carmen in 3 reels)

Wednesday: Broncho (2 reels), Mutual Weekly (newsreel), Reliance

Thursday: American, Keystone, Mutual

Friday: Kay-Bee (2 reels), Thanhouser3

Saturday: American, Reliance

EXCLUSIVE SUPPLY FILMS:

Monday: Dragon

Tuesday: Gaumont

Wednesday: Solax, Gaumont Weekly (newsreel)

Thursday: Gaumont

Friday: Solax, Lux

Saturday: Great Northern

Thanhouser’s June release schedule began on the first of the month with Harry Benham and Mignon Anderson in A Victim of Circumstances, a film which The New York Dramatic Mirror considered to be “an improbable story well done.”

The Caged Bird, issued on June 3rd, had Marguerite Snow as the caged-bird princess, William Garwood as the prince, James Cruze as the king, and William Russell in the role of the farmer. A review in The New York Dramatic Mirror indicated that Thanhouser was still having production problems:

A romantic drama which is unsuccessful in capturing a convincing romantic atmosphere. The king’s daughter, believing herself a caged bird, runs away among the peasants, after liberating her little canary. The unkindness and rudeness which she encounters among the rough subjects of the lower class bring a change of thought, and she returns to the castle to marry her father’s choice, the prince of the neighboring kingdom. In the first place, the costuming, with a few exceptions in the courtroom scene, is not regal, and the boudoir of the princess looks more like a New York flat than the room of a castle. There is a sudden and puzzling jump in the story when the princess starts to run away, appearing abruptly in peasant garb. Marguerite Snow plays the princess.

The Runaway, released on June 6th, featured Marie Eline and Helen Badgley, the Thanhouser Kid and Kidlet. As was the case with nearly all of the films featuring this duo, reviews were good.

Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.

Footnotes

  1. Schedule for the week beginning Sunday, May 25, 1913, taken from The New York Dramatic Mirror, May 28, 1913. In addition to the so-called “program releases,” many producers distributed their products through the states rights market. Among the non-affiliated distribution outlets active at the time were Warner’s Features, 145 West 45th Street, New York City; Ambrosio American Co., 15 East 26th Street, New York City; W.F. Conner, 1555 Broadway, New York City; George Kleine, 166 North State Street, Chicago (who was featuring Quo Vadis?, an imported film which created a sensation); Monopol Film Co.; Shakespeare Film Co., Longacre Bldg., New York City (which was featuring Richard III, starring Frederick Warde, who years later was to become prominent with Thanhouser); Itala Film Co., Columbia Theatre Building, New York City; F.E. Moore, Times Bldg., New York City; Eclectic Film Co., 145 West 45th Street, New York City; Northern Ventures, Ltd., 145 West 45th Street, New York City; and International Feature Film Co., 145 West 45th Street, New York City. ↩

  2. 101 Bison was the new name for Bison brand films and represented a combination of the old Bison name with that of the 101 Ranch, of Bliss, Oklahoma, an enterprise which over a period of time and under different managements included a tourist attraction, a traveling cowboy show, and a film-making enterprise. ↩

  3. Thanhouser normally released a one-reel film on Friday, but on this particular day, May 30, 1913, there was no Thanhouser release because of the 3-reel Carmen on Tuesday. ↩