The General Film Company was a motion picture

distribution company Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it. This can be done directly by the producer or service p ...

in the United States. Between 1909 and 1920, the company distributed almost 12,000 silent era motion pictures.

Formation

The General Film Company was formed by the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) in an attempt to monopolize distribution. In 1909, the General Film Company tried to seize the equipment of independent distribution companies to discourage their activities.

Conflict

Using their control over several film patents, the General Film Company and MPPC tried to force independent distribution companies to sell out or lose their patent licenses. Competing organizations, such as the Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company, the

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and the

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, emerged to challenge the trust. By 1912, the power of the General Film Company had declined and the

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started prosecution of the MPPC and the General Film Company under the Sherman Act.

Sold

On March 30, 1918, the General Film Company was sold, along with the MPPC, to the Lincoln & Parker Film Company of

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

reacquired these assets when the Lincoln & Parker Company went bankrupt and sold them to producer Robert L. Giffen in October 1919.''Chronology: 1879-1931''

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References

External links

General Film Company
at the

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* https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/general-flimco-and-pushcart-peddlers * https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/detours-way-hollywood {{US-film-company-stub