The Art-O-Graf Film Company was an American

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

company founded by Otis B. Thayer that operated between 1919 and 1923 during the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. Four time

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee Vernon L. Walker started his career as the head cameraman for the company. Cameraman, William E. Smith, previously worked for

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The company had offices in the Guardian Trust Building in Denver, Colorado, and Steamboat Springs,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The studio was at Englewood,

. The company also filmed in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mos ...

and surrounding areas. Many of the films produced by the company are now considered

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, but a number still survive. Perhaps the company's best known film is '' Wolves of the Street'', also known as ''The Wolves in Wall Street''.

Staff and crew

Board of Directors: Alden Van Epps Wessels (owner of the Steamboat Springs Orphium Theatre), Clay Henry Monson, M. Jay Casey, Otis B. Thayer, Gretchen Wood, Lucius Alfred Dick (son of Ohio Senator Charles William Frederick Dick), and David Townsend.

President and General Manager: Otis B. Thayer (1919), M. Jay Casey (1921)
Vice presidents: Gretchen Wood (1919), David Townsend (1921)
Managing Director: Otis B. Thayer
Assistant Manager/Director: Ned Jesse Pease
Scenario Editor: David Townsend (1923)
Head Cameraman: Vernon L. Walker
Cameramen: H. Haller Murphy, William E. Smith
Secretary/Treasurers: Alden VanEpps Wessels, L. Linderman (1919), David Townsend (1919)
Sales Manager: David Townsend (1920)

Rough Riders: A. E. McCormick, Babe Marshall Courvoisier, Charley S. Tipton (formerly with

Buffalo Bill's Wild West William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...

), Dave Campbell (formerly with Erwin Bros. Wild West show), Fred Shaefer, Lewis Milner, Marion Milner, John Keogh, Ora Keogh, Albert Keogh, Frances Keogh, Lewis Hannan and Thomas Hannan.

Notes

In July, 1920 the company was sued for $3,000 in the Supreme Court for breach of contract by Frederick W. Eichorn, scenario writer, who had written a 15-episode serial script, ''Rado the Invisible'', in which

Anna Luther Anna Luther (July 7, 1893 – December 16, 1960), sometimes credited as Ann Luther or Anne Luther, was an American actress. She was known as "the Poster Girl". Early life and career Anna Luther was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 7, 1893, a ...

was to star. The papers were served on David Townsend who was listed as director of the defendant.

In September, 1921 M. Jay Casey was arrested in Durango, Colorado for passing a fraudulent check. He claimed he had been framed to oust him from the company. Pueblo chieftain., September 25, 1921, Page 8

In July, 1923 Mrs. Gretchen Wood was arrested. Her driver had wrecked their car into another automobile causing injury to the three passengers, after which Mrs. Wood’s home was searched and 17 cases of liquor were found.

Selected filmography

* ''

Miss Arizona The Miss Arizona competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arizona in the Miss America pageant. Arizona has twice won the Miss America title. The first Miss Arizona, Anna Marie Barnett, was crowned in 1938. ...

'' (1919) * ''

The Desert Scorpion ''The Desert Scorpion'' (originally titled ''The Last of the Open Range'') is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by Otis B. Thayer and starring Edmund Cobb and Vida Johnson. The film was shot in Denver, Colorado by the Thayer's Art ...

'' (1920) * '' Wolves of the Street'' (1920) * ''

Finders Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English language, English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself pe ...

'' (1921) * '' Out of the Depths'' (1921) * '' Trail's End'' (1922) * '' The Wolf Breed'' (1922) * '' Riders of the Range'' (1923)

References

{{reflist

External links

* http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/companies/A/artOGrafFilmCo.html * https://www.imdb.com/company/co0137298/ * http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=1&Type=PR&ID=500 American film studios Film production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Mass media companies established in 1919 1919 establishments in Colorado Mass media companies disestablished in 1923 1923 disestablishments in Colorado