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Film Serials
A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, generally advancing weekly, until the series is completed. Generally, each serial involves a single set of characters, protagonistic and antagonistic, involved in a single story, which has been edited into chapters after the fashion of serial fiction and the episodes cannot be shown out of order or as a single or a random collection of short subjects. Each chapter was screened at a movie theater for one week, and ended with a cliffhanger, in which characters found themselves in perilous situations with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to return each week to see the cliffhangers resolved and to follow the continuing story. Movie serials were especially popular with children, and for many youths in the first half of the 20th centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it. Recording and transmission of film The moving images of a film are created by photography, photographing actual scenes with a movie camera, motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of computer-generated imagery, CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects. Before the introduction of digital production, series of still imag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damsel In Distress
The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motivation or compulsion to initiate the narrative. The female character herself may be competent, but still finds herself in this type of situation. The helplessness of these fictional females, according to some critics, is linked to views outside of fiction that women as a group need to be taken care of by men. The evolution of the trope throughout history has been described as such: "What changes through the decades isn’t the damsel (the woman is always the weak victim in need of the male savior) – it’s the attacker. The faces of the attacker in popular media are legion: monsters, mad scientists, Nazis, hippies, bikers, aliens... whichever group best meets the collective fears of a culture gets the role". Etymology The word "damsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitagraph
Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros. in 1925. History In 1896, English émigré Blackton was moonlighting as a reporter/artist for the New York ''Evening World'' when he was sent to interview Thomas Edison about his new film projector. The inventor talked the entrepreneurial reporter into buying a set of films and a projector. A year later, Blackton and business partner Smith founded the American Vitagraph Company in direct competition with Edison. A third partner, distributor William "Pop" Rock, joined in 1899. The company's first studio was located on the rooftop of a building on Nassau Street in Manhattan. Operations were later moved to the Midwoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Little
Ann Little (born Mary Hankins Brooks; February 7, 1891 – May 21, 1984), also known as Anna Little, was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the early 1920s. Today, most of her films are lost, with only 12 known to survive. Life and career Ann Little was born Mary Hankins Brooks on February 7, 1891, on a ranch in Mount Shasta, California. She was the only child of Mary Mariah "Mamie" Hankins Brooks, who was from Montana, and James Luther Brooks, who was from New York. In the 1900 census, she is listed as living in Chicago, Illinois, alongside her mother and father as roomers. She appears in the 1910 census as living in Mount Shasta again as a roomer with the Levy family, and her marital status is "married". Little first appeared in a traveling, stock-theater group after graduating from high school at age 16. After briefly relocating to San Francisco in the early 1910s, she acted in musical comedies o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marin Sais
Marin Sais (born Mae Smith; August 2, 1890 – December 31, 1971) was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades and she is possibly best recalled for appearing in Western themed films. Early life and career Born in San Rafael, California into a family that was allegedly descended from one of the earliest Spanish families to settle in California, Marin Sais began her acting career as a teenager after travelling to New York City where she appeared in vaudeville. In 1910, at the age of twenty, Sais made her screen debut for New York City's Vitagraph Studios in the short film adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night'' opposite the notable actors Florence Turner and Julia Swayne Gordon. Sais would go on to star in a number of well-received comedy shorts for Kalem Company opposite actors Ruth Roland, Marshall Neilan and Edward Coxen. In 1911, Sais made her first appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Roland
Ruth Roland (August 26, 1892 – September 22, 1937) was an American stage and film actress and film producer. Early life and career Roland was born in San Francisco, California to Elizabeth Lillian Hauser and Jack Roland. Her father managed a theatre, and she became a child actress who went on to work in vaudeville. At age 12, she was the youngest student at Hollywood High School, having attended the school around 1904 or 1905 (there is debate on this date). Roland was Hollywood High School's first homegrown movie star. She was hired by director Sidney Olcott who had seen her on stage in New York City. She appeared in her first film, ''A Chance Shot'', for Kalem Studios in 1911, becoming the leading actress of their new West Coast studio. After Gene Gauntier's departure from Kalem, she became billed as the new "Kalem Girl." She eventually became overseer of "Kalem House" where all the actors lived. Roland left Kalem and went on to even more fame at Balboa Films, where she w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Gibson
Helen Gibson (born Rose August Wegner; August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American professional stunt woman.Truitt, 1984. Rodeo riding She was born Rose August Wenger in Cleveland, Ohio, one of five girls to Swiss-German parents, Fred and Annie Wegner. Her father had wanted a son, and encouraged her to be a tomboy. Helen saw her first Wild West show in Cleveland in the summer of 1909 and answered a Miller Brothers 101 Ranch ad for girl riders in ''Billboard'' magazine. They taught her to ride, and she performed in her first 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show in St. Louis in April 1910. She was quoted as saying: ''"(I) was already practicing picking up a handkerchief from the ground at full gallop. When veteran riders told me I could get kicked in the head, I paid no heed. Such things might happen to others, but could never happ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Holmes (actress)
Helen Holmes (June 19, 1892 – July 8, 1950) was an American silent film actress, producer, director, screenwriter and stuntwoman. She is most notable for starring in the 1914–1917 serial ''The Hazards of Helen''. Life Helen Holmes was born on June 19, 1892, in Illinois. While there is uncertainty about her place of birth, Holmes stated in an interview that she was born on a farm in South Bend, Indiana, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. A 1917 article indicates Holmes was born on her father's private railroad car, "Estevan". Holmes was the daughter of Norwegian immigrant Louis A. Holmes (born in Norway in October 1862), a railroad clerk employed by the Illinois Central Railroad, who had migrated to the United States in 1867,Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Chicago Ward 15, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 264; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 472; FHL microfil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalem Studios
The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem was sold to Vitagraph Studios in 1917. Formation and history The Kalem Company was founded by George Kleine, Samuel Long, and Frank J. Marion. The company was named for their initials K, L, and M. Kalem immediately joined other studios in the Motion Picture Patents Company that held a monopoly on production and distribution. Frank Marion had been the sales manager at Biograph Studios and Samuel Long was the manager of the Biograph production facility at Hoboken, New Jersey. Needing to raise more capital, the two experienced filmmakers approached Chicago businessman George Kleine to come in as a partner. Kleine, already a successful film distributor, was involved only a short time but it was a profitable investment for him as his partners were soon suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hazards Of Helen
''The Hazards of Helen'' is an American adventure film serial (or possibly a film series) of 119 twelve-minute episodes released over a span of slightly more than two years by the Kalem Company between November 7, 1914, and February 24, 1917. At 23.8 hours, it is one of the longest non-feature-length motion picture series ever filmed, and is believed to be the longest of the film serial format. Based on a novel by John Russell Corvell and the play by Denman Thompson, the series was adapted to the silent screen by W. Scott Darling. Episodes 1-48 were directed by J.P. McGowan and the remainder by J. Gunnis Davis, who was credited as James Davis. Unlike the cliffhanger serials of the era, ''The Hazards of Helen'' is actually a film series made up of near autonomous single reel twelve-minute melodramas. Most episodes of this serial are presumed lost. Production Starring an independent, quick-thinking and inventive heroine, the series was filmed on location in the city of Glendale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl White
Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. She began her career on the stage at the age of six, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serials. Dubbed the "Queen of the Serials", White was noted for doing the majority of her own stunts, most notably in '' The Perils of Pauline''. Often cast as a plucky onscreen heroine, White's roles directly contrasted those of the popularized archetypal ingénue. Early life White was born in Green Ridge, Missouri, to Edgar White, a farmer, and Lizzie G. House. She had four brothers and sisters. The family later moved to Springfield, Missouri. At age 6, she made her stage debut as "Little Eva" in ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. When she was 13, White worked as a bareback rider for the circus. Career She began performing with the Diemer Theater Company while in her second year of high school. Against the wishes of her father, White dropped out of school, and in 1907, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathé Frères
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipment and production company, as well as a major producer of phonograph records. In 1908, Pathé invented the newsreel that was shown in cinemas before a feature film. Pathé is a major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont and television networks across Europe. It is the second-oldest operating film company behind Gaumont Film Company, which was established in 1895. History The company was founded as Société Pathé Frères (Pathé Brothers Company) in Paris, France on 28 September 1896, by the four brothers Charles, Émile, Théophile and Jacques Pathé. During the first part of the 20th century, Pathé became the largest film equipment and prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
