Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 2 (1909 Into the Film Industry): A Visit to New Rochelle

In early March 1910, when Edwin Thanhouser was preparing to release his first film, the most influential of the trade publications was The Moving Picture World. The weekly magazine dispatched a reporter to New Rochelle to see what was going on. Readers of the March 12th issue were greeted by a detailed article:

THANHOUSER COMPANY, A New Film Producer. Large Manufacturing Plant Has Been Installed at New Rochelle, New York. Strong Addition to the Independent Ranks: A new star has appeared on the moving picture horizon that promises to develop into one of the first magnitude before many seasons pass. "Only forty-five minutes from Broadway," in the very town made famous by George M. Cohan, another actor-manager (perhaps equally prominent in his sphere) has deserted the living stage and cast his lot with the silent drama. Edwin Thanhouser, theatre owner, manager and erstwhile director of his own stock company, has given up a business that brought him more wealth than to many of his compeers, and he has settled down in New Rochelle to spend it in making moving pictures after his own ideals.

We had heard considerable about this new manufacturing plant along the line of the New York & New Haven Railroad, and journeying thither we were directed to the large building...by a New Rochelle citizen, who seemed not a little proud of the new industry in their midst. And they have reason to be, for it has all the outside evidence of prosperity and stability and it houses the most efficient and most complete moving picture manufacturing plant that has yet been established in this country as an initial venture.

We have cast our optics on quite a few fixed stars, shooting stars, planets and comets in the film manufacturing field, and we were anxious to dissect the personality of this new aspirant to fame and dollars, for such were the reasons, Mr. Thanhouser finally admitted, that prompted him to relinquish his lucrative profession and embark in a new field. In the prime of life, clean-cut, sincere, with the self-assurance based upon the success of his past career, Mr. Thanhouser inspires confidence and respect. He has been identified with the stage for the past 25 years, for the last 15 of which he was director of his own stock company. "And," said he, "I made enough to retire."

"But, instead, you have sunk it into the moving picture game."

"No, not sunk it. I have invested part of it here, and if this goes up tomorrow, I still have enough to live on."

"What attracted you to this field?"

"I saw its possibilities. I became filled with the idea that I could produce better pictures than a majority of those I had seen. The idea became a determination. I studied the situation on the market. To be frank with you, I applied for a license as a manufacturer, but was, of course, refused, as I then had no plant and may be said to have known nothing of the business. I have great respect for the Motion Picture Patents Company and appreciate what their protection means to the Licensed manufacturer and to the moving picture business, but this was not helping me to realize my ambitions. So I set about seeing how I could make pictures without infringing upon patent rights, and being convinced that the Bianchi camera gave that protection, I placed an order for one and four months ago leased this building. It was an empty shell, with no heating plant, and it took considerable time to get this installed and the skylight and arc lamps. During that time we made some outside scenes and now we have several subjects completed."

"Mr. Thanhouser, I am intensely interested to know what lines you intend to work upon. What kind of subjects do you intend to produce?"

"We will produce comedy, not the slapstick kind, comedy-drama, and (pulling down several bound volumes of plays) you see all these dramas produced by the Thanhouser Stock Company. We have plenty of good material to select from and in due time I will produce some of the classics that I have staged. But we will keep away from the wild, wooly, Western, over-acted, overdone cowboy style of melodrama."

"Amen to that! Now, do you depend upon getting experienced employees and actors from other manufacturers? If you have vacancies, we have several applicants on file."

"I do not want producers or actors from any other manufacturer. I will train my own stock company. That is not new to me. Of course, I had to get experienced men for the mechanical departments, but I do not believe in trying to draw men from any other manufacturer, either Licensed or Independent, and I would want to be treated in the same way. If an experienced man comes to me, who is out of employment, that is another matter. All men must live."

Mr. Thanhouser then guided us through the various departments and into the large studio, where a scene was being rehearsed. Not having seen the latest improved Bianchi camera, we were allowed to examine one of the two that the firm possesses and found it to be, in construction and solidity, a great improvement over the one shown to us by Mr. Bianchi over a year ago. Cleanliness and order prevailed everywhere throughout the factory and studio. Mr. Thanhouser is evidently a believer in having things right first - then go ahead....