Volume III: Biographies

CRONJAGER, Henry

Cameraman (1909-1910, 1914-1916)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Henry Cronjager was a cameraman with Thanhouser circa 1909-1910 and again 1914-1916.

Biographical Notes: Born in Germany in 1876, Henry Cronjager (also spelled Kronjager) was educated in Germany and America. For 25 years he produced publicity stills of stage productions for Daniel Frohman, Klaw & Erlanger, and others. In his screen career he was a cameraman for Edison for five years (The Battle of Trafalgar, The Three Musketeers, The Storming of Quebec, etc.), which position he obtained through Frank L. Dyer, president of the Thomas A. Edison Company. He was the first cameraman to work at Edison's new studio in the Bronx, New York. For Edison he undertook much photographic work, including on trips to Cuba and Canada.

Henry Cronjager was with Thanhouser circa 1909-1910. He then worked for Biograph for two years (The Road to Yesterday, The Three Musketeers, Lord Chumley, etc.). after which he was hired by Charles J. Hite and went to Thanhouser again, where he was situated in 1914. It is believed that while he worked for Thanhouser, he did outside work for other companies as well.

In early 1916, when he was with Thanhouser, his mailing address was 1831 Marmion Avenue, or care of the Cinema Camera Club, New York City. The New Rochelle Pioneer, June 3, 1916, announced that he was among nearly two dozen important players, directors, and cameramen who were dismissed by the studio on Saturday morning, May 27, 1916, as part of an economy move when the outlook for the Thanhouser Film Corporation seemed bleak. By October 1916 he was with the Arrow Film Corporation.

The Moving Picture World, October 7, 1916, told of his career: "Henry Cronjager, chief cameraman of the Arrow Film Corporation, is one of the real veterans of the motion picture business. In the last 20 years photography has been his profession. In Cronjager's early days in New York he worked for noted portrait photographers, which gave him the thorough practical knowledge in the various branches of his profession.

"When the Edison Company built its Bronx studio, Frank L. Dyer, then president of the company, engaged Cronjager as Edison's first cameraman. He stayed with that company five years, working and traveling with its best directors throughout the United States, Cuba, and Canada. After his Edison engagement Cronjager went to Biograph, where he photographed the big Klaw & Erlanger six-reel productions such as Lord Chumley, The Road to Yesterday, etc. Two years after Cronjager joined the Biograph staff, he was engaged by C.J. Hite. He remained with Mr. Hite until W.E. Shallenberger, president of the Arrow Company, secured his services.

"While Cronjager was with the Edison Company he established the unique record of winning the photographer's first prize every month for one solid year, standing at the head of the list from January all the way through to December. Oscar C. Apfel, under whom Cronjager did much of his splendid work at Edison, once said of him: I consider Cronjager the ablest photographer in the motion picture field.' Frequently H.G. Plimpton sent Cronjager out alone as far as the Canadian Rockies to make scenic pictures for Edison.

"In addition to Cronjager's regular work with the camera he succeeded in inventing and perfecting a camera case which was designed to reduce, or even eliminate, the static flashes on the film. So well did this work that Cronjager succeeded in getting pictures in Maine in the wintertime when the thermometer was at the bottom of the bulb, yet none of these pictures was marred by static. This invention he patented three years ago and it has been a source of constant profit to him since. Cronjager photographed the later episode of the Who's Guilty? series for Arrow and is now working on big productions at the Arrow studios under the direction of Howell Hansel."

At one time or another he also worked with the American Film Manufacturing Company ("Flying A"), the British-American Film Company, Reliance, Metro, Fox, Famous Players-Lasky, and other studios. His later camera work included The Deemster (Arrow, 1917), For France (Vitagraph, 1917), Moral Suicide (Graphic Film, 1918), Why America Will Win (Fox, September 1918), Three Men and a Girl (Paramount, April 1919), and The River's End (Marshall Neilan Productions for First National, February 1920). The 1918 edition of the Motion Picture Studio Directory gave his studio affiliation at the time as Biograph in New York City, which may have represented uncorrected earlier information. He remained a cinematographer for many years afterward, the 1922 release of Tol'able David being among his credits. His brother Jules was also a cameraman for Thanhouser. Henry Cronjager died in Los Angeles, California on August 1, 1967.

Note: In local newspaper articles in New Rochelle (e.g., in the New Rochelle Pioneer), his surname was often spelled as "Kronjager."

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: A Seminary Consumed by Flames (3-4-1914), An Hour of Youth (4-12-1914), From the Flames (4-28-1914), Beating Back (Direct-From-Broadway Features 6-9-1914), The Harvest of Regrets (9-27-1914)

1915: The Patriot and the Spy (6-7-1915)

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