Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 10: 1917 Clara Kimball Young

Clara Kimball Young, a popular actress of the era, was riding a crest in 1917. Earlier, she formed an arrangement with Louis J. Selznick, a brash and aggressive up-and-coming entrepreneur, to form her own production company. Her name was plastered all over the trade publications for many months. Things did not work out as hoped for, and the arrangement ended in misunderstanding and a lawsuit.

Now operating her own production company, Clara Kimball Young rented space in Thanhouser's largely unused studio facilities. The Moving Picture World carried this article in its August 4, 1917 edition:

Clara Kimball Young has taken over the Thanhouser studio at New Rochelle and has started work on her first picture, The Marionettes, which will be produced by her own organization under her personal direction. The Marionettes was first produced in Paris and enjoyed a long run there, being later produced in this country under the name of The Puppets, with Mme. Nazimova as the star. Mr. Emile Chautard will direct the picture, which will be ready by September 1. Miss Young has opened executive and publicity offices in Aeolian Hall, New York City.

A correction appeared in the same publication a week later:

The first [Clara Kimball Young] picture, The Marionettes, is being made in the Thanhouser studios at New Rochelle, and it will be finished by September 1. Note In this connection an erroneous statement was made last week to the effect that the Thanhouser studios had been leased outright. This is a mistake. It had been decided to make only the first one or two pictures in the East, and Miss Young contemplates making one picture in Puerto Rico, one in Southern California and two or three in other locations not yet decided upon.

Edwin Thanhouser was quoted in the same issue:

"The story that the Thanhouser studios have been taken over by the Clara Kimball Young Film Company is a total mistake and I would like you to give that fact publicity. The accurate news in the matter is that Miss Young's company is producing its first picture at our studio, picking our plant for this after an inspection of every large studio in and around New York City," said Mr. Thanhouser last week. "I appreciate that no harm was meant by the erroneous item, which clearly came from the pen of someone uninformed as to the size and facilities of our place at New Rochelle. Not only is it housing Miss Young's company, but our own, under director Ernest Warde, and we are considering letting some independent producers of large features partake of our facilities, too."

Edwin Thanhouser did protest too much, for it was only a matter of a short time before the studio would be completely taken over by other production companies.