Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory and film processing company and was one of the leading film laboratories in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures and television. The company and its employees received many

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 ...

for scientific or technical achievements. CFI was incorporated in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in March 1924 by

Herbert Yates Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, who had western stars John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers under contract. Between the years 1935 and 1959, Republic, under Yates' l ...

. It was reincorporated in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in 1927 by the merger of several earlier companies, including Republic Laboratories, which Yates bought in 1918, and the Allied Film Laboratories Association, which he formed in 1919. The prospectus stated that Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. of Delaware was being incorporated to succeed a Company of a similar name formed in March 1924 under the laws of

, for developing of motion picture negatives, printing the necessary positives and delivering the positives as instructed by the motion picture producers or distributors, thus rendering an essential service to the motion picture industry. The Company was said to operate six plants, known in the motion picture business as "laboratories," in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. One of these acquired properties was the

Biograph Studios Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York. History Early years The first studio of the Biograph Company, formerly ...

film laboratory facilities in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. Consolidated Film Industries, Inc., was the largest concern of its kind and was at one time the largest purchaser of motion picture film in the world. The business was said to have been built upon the sound foundation of quality and service at a price, in most instances, below the motion picture producer's own laboratory cost. It was claimed that this low price was made possible through the Company's efficient and large-scale operations. Motion picture and television films that used the company's color processing typically referred to the company only by its initials, the credit usually reading "Color by CFI." For a time in the late 1980s, CFI was jokingly said to stand for "Can't Find It" or 'C.F.I. Care'. Gladys Baker, the mother of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

, worked for Consolidated as a negative film cutter; Monroe's biological father is believed to have been fellow Consolidated employee Charles Stanley Gifford. According to a news item on the front page of the ''

Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'', on

October 24, 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, the laboratories of Consolidated Film Industries in Hollywood were destroyed by an explosion and fire. One man was killed, and motion picture films worth millions of dollars were lost. Consolidated Film Industries acquired

Prizma The Prizma Color system was a color motion picture process, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor. However, Kelley eventual ...

color in 1928 and was acquired by

Technicolor, Inc. Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headq ...

in 2000. Over time Technicolor operated both the Universal City lab and CFI's lab in Hollywood, but as demand decreased, the decision was made to shut down CFI. Technicolor ceased operations in Universal City as a film laboratory in 2008. The original CFI building at 959 Seward Street in Hollywood had been the company's home for more than 60 years. After the structure was demolished, the lot lay vacant for many years before a low-rise office complex was constructed in 2014.

Scientific or Technical Academy Awards

*1956: To Ted Hirsch, Carl Hauge and Edward Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries for an automatic scene counter for laboratory projection rooms. (Class III award) *1960: To Carl Hauge, Robert Grubel and Edward Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries for the development of an automatic developer replenisher system. (Class III award) *1964: To Sidney P. Solow, Eduard H. Reichard, Carl Hauge, and Job Sanderson of "Consolidated Film Iindustries" for the Design and Use of a 3-Head Color Release Printer for A & B Composite Color Printing" (Class II award) *1964: To Edward H. Reichard and Carl W. Hauge of Consolidated Film Industries for the design of a Proximity Cue Detector and its application to motion picture printers. (Class III award) *1964: To Edward H. Reichard, Leonard L. Sokolow and Carl W. Hauge of Consolidated Film Industries for the design and application to motion picture laboratory practice of a Stroboscopic Scene Tester for color and black-and-white film. (Class III award) *1968: To Carl W. Hauge and Edward H. Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries and E. Michael Meahl and Roy J. Ridenour of Ramtronics for engineering an automatic exposure control for printing-machine lamps. (Class III award) *1968: To EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY for a new direct positive film and to Consolidated Film Industries for the application of this film to the making of post-production work prints. *1971: To Producers Service Corporation and Consolidated Film Industries; and to Cinema Research Corporation and Research Products, Inc. for the engineering and implementation of fully automated blow-up motion picture printing systems. (Class III award)

References

{{Authority control Film production companies of the United States Cinema of Southern California Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies based in New York City Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Mass media companies established in 1914 Companies disestablished in 2008 1914 establishments in New York (state) 2008 disestablishments in California

Scientific or Technical Academy Awards

See also

References