Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 9: 1916 The Year in Review

For the Thanhouser Film Corporation the year 1916 was one of transition. In January hopes were high as the Jacksonville facility, described as the finest studio in the South, was set to produce a long string of one-reel Falstaff comedies as well as numerous longer films from two reels upward. By the end of May the curtain descended, the Jacksonville studio was closed, and despite numerous official statements to the contrary, no other films would ever be produced by Thanhouser in that Southern city.

At the same time, Thanhouser was ejected from the Mutual program. After considering many possibilities, Edwin Thanhouser made an agreement to release through the Pathé Exchange, Inc. Nothing was guaranteed. As noted, a review committee was to screen each film and then decide whether Pathé should release it. Gone were the days of one-reel pictures, which had become obsolete anyway, and after midsummer 1916 all Thanhouser Film Corporation films were five reels or more.

Elsewhere in the industry Mary Pickford was idolized by movie fans worldwide. Adolph Zukor signed her to a two-year contract with Famous Players with a guaranteed minimum of $1,040,000. Other stars of the Famous Players studio included Pauline Frederick, John Barrymore, Marguerite Clark, and Hazel Dawn. Fox, Metro, and Lasky all scored box office success with their feature films. Universal, known in the industry as a "film factory," continued to turn out a stream of pictures in its New Jersey and Los Angeles studios, with the latter, known as Universal City, being a prime tourist attraction. Triangle attracted audiences with such stars as Douglas Fairbanks and William S. Hart. Lewis J. Selznick formed the Clara Kimball Young Film Corporation amidst much pressagentry, confusing press statements, and a lawsuit by the star's husband who charged alienation of her affections.

Serials were all the rage in 1916. While Thanhouser pulled in its horns after the dismal failure of Zudora, most other studios fielded entries in the weekly sweepstakes. Pearl White, the queen of serials whose fame in The Perils of Pauline endured, was seen in 1916 in The Iron Claw and Pearl of the Army, released through the Pathé Exchange, which also offered The Grip of Evil, The Red Circle, The Mysteries of Myra, The Shielding Shadow, and Who's Guilty? Metro produced The Great Secret, while Kalem issued The Social Pirates, Universal distributed For Liberty and Peg o' the Ring, and Kleine offered Gloria's Romance with Billie Burke. Serial episodes largely took the place of the one-reel dramas of yesteryear and were ideal fillers and additions to an evening's program featuring a five-reel or longer film.

In the world of comedy, Charlie Chaplin remained dominant and with a contract for $670,000 in his pocket, began what eventually amounted to 12 two-reel films for Mutual. Theatre audiences laughed at the slapstick antics in Keystone comedies, while Harold Lloyd was catching on with his Lonesome Luke pictures produced by Rolin and released through the Pathé Exchange. In the Kalem studio, Lloyd V. Hamilton and Bud Duncan produced the highly successful Ham and Bud series of mirth provokers. Al Christie, earlier with Nestor, formed Al E. Christie Comedies and began releasing in September 1916, eventually gaining a wide audience.

The old Patents Company members were rapidly fading in the face of aggressive competition by newer studios. Four of them - Kleine, Edison, Selig, and Essanay - banded together in 1916 as K-E-S-E to release their productions, the successor, more or less, to V-L-S-E, formed in April 1915 to distribute Vitagraph, Lubin, Selig, and Essanay films. By this time the day of the Patents Co. studios vs. the Independents was a subject for the history books.

Two-dollar admission charges were being posted for the best seats in theatres during the evening showings of such films as Civilization, Intolerance, Ramona, The Fall of a Nation, and A Daughter of the Gods. While in rural districts a nickel would pay a child's admittance to a theatre, adult prices for regular films in many cities ranged from 25 cents upward. Interest was centered on Intolerance in particular, the Griffith film which was nearly two years in the making and which took three and a half hours to project. Audiences found the four parallel themes of the picture to be confusing, and the production lost money.

By December 1916 Edwin Thanhouser was caught up in a high-powered industry which bore little resemblance to film production when he began his releases in 1910.