The Selig Polyscope Company was an American

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

company that was founded in 1896 by William Selig in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. The company produced hundreds of early, widely distributed commercial moving pictures, including the first films starring Tom Mix,

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...

, and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Selig Polyscope also established

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

's first permanent movie studio, in the historic Edendale district of Los Angeles. Ending film production in 1918, the business, which had become known for its film production animals, became an animal and prop supplier to other studios and a zoo and amusement park attraction in East Los Angeles. The amusement park and zoo went into decline during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in the 1930s. In 1947, William Selig and several other early movie producers and directors shared a special

Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...

to acknowledge their role in building the film industry.

History

William Selig initially worked as a

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

magician in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and then a

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

operator on the west coast in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Returning to Chicago,

, he entered the film business using his own photographic equipment, free from the

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

restrictions that were imposed through companies controlled by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 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 inventions, ...

. In 1896, with help from Union Metal Works and Andrew Schustek, he shot his first film, '' The Tramp and the Dog''. He then went on to successfully produce local actualities,

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedies, early travelogues and industrial films (a major client was Armour and Company). In 1908, Selig Polyscope was involved in the production of '' The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays'', a touring "multimedia" attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to a wider public (which played to full houses but was nonetheless a financial disaster for Baum). By 1909, Selig had studios making short features in Chicago and the Edendale district of Los Angeles. The company also distributed stock film footage and titles from other studios. That year,

Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

's first movie was a Selig comedy short. The company's early existence was fraught with legal turmoil over disputes with lawyers representing

's interests. In 1909, Selig and several other studio heads settled with Edison by creating an alliance with the inventor. Effectively a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

Motion Picture Patents Company The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908 and effectively terminated in 1915 after it lost a United States v. Motion Picture Patents Co., federal antitrust suit, was a trust (19th century), ...

dominated the industry for a few years until the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(in 1913 and 1915) ruled the firm was an illegal

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

. In 1910, Selig Polyscope produced a wholly new filmed version of '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. The company produced the first commercial two-reel film, '' Damon and Pythias'', successfully distributed its pictures in Great Britain, and maintained an office in London for several years before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Although Selig Polyscope produced a wide variety of moving pictures, the company was most widely known for its wild animal shorts, historical subjects and early

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

s. In 1916, Selig Polyscope was hired by the Indiana Historical Commission to research, plan and film "the centennial historical picture of Indiana." Estimated to be a seven-reel production that would require the use of seven thousand feet of film, two reels were to be devoted to a prologue that detailed the state's early history, with the remainder of the reels to address the period of 1816 to 1916. Company location scouts reportedly searched for three hundred sites for actors and actresses to "re-enact the istoricalscenes on the identical grounds where they occurred." Gillson Willetts wrote the screenplay.

Edendale

Attracted by Southern California's mild, dry climate, varied geography for location shooting and isolation from Edison's legal representatives on the east coast, Selig set up his studio in Edendale in 1909 with director Francis Boggs, who began the facility in a rented

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

and quickly expanded, designing the studio's front entrance after Mission San Gabriel. Between 1910 and 1913, when it released the film to audiences nationwide, Selig Polyscope filmed '' The Coming of Columbus''. Described as "the sensation of the moving picture world" and "the most expensive, the most elaborate and most wonderful graphic moving picture film ever made," the three-reel movie portrayed "the vital events in the life and discoveries of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

" that were "with historic exactness." The film took three years to develop at a cost of more than $50,000. An early production there was ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

''. Edendale soon became Selig Polyscope's headquarters, but in 1911 Boggs was murdered by a Japanese gardener who also wounded Selig. The company produced hundreds of short features at Edendale, including many early westerns featuring Tom Mix (which were also shot at Las Vegas, New Mexico). Selig Polyscope also made dozens of highly successful short movies involving wild animals in exotic settings, including a popular re-creation of an African

safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

hunt by

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as ...

. In 1914, Selig made fourteen short experimental " talking pictures" with Scottish actor Harry Lauder.

The "cliffhanger"

In 1913, through a collaborative partnership with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', Selig produced '' The Adventures of Kathlyn'', introducing a dramatic serial plot device which came to be known as the

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

. Each chapter's story was simultaneously published in the newspaper. A combination of wild animals, clever dramatic action and Kathlyn Williams' screen presence resulted in significant success. The ''Tribune''’s circulation reportedly increased by ten percent and a dance and a cocktail were named after Williams, whose likeness was reportedly sold on more than 50,000

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

Hearst-Selig News Pictorial

Hearst-Selig News Pictorial was established in 1914 by the Selig Polyscope Company and the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

. Hearst-Selig News Pictorial, No. 104 was released in U.S. theaters by the General Film Company on December 30, 1915. After this release, the partnership between Hearst and Selig broke up. Selig continued to produce newsreels in collaboration with the

while Hearst made use of Vitagraph to produce the Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial series.

V-L-S-E, Incorporated

In 1915, Selig entered into an agreement with

Vitagraph Studios 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 ...

, Lubin Manufacturing Company, and Essanay Studios to form a film distribution partnership known as V-L-S-E, Incorporated.

Selig Zoo

Selig created a zoo in east Los Angeles to serve as a home for the company's performing animals. The Selig Zoo was founded in about 1913 and persisted for several decades under a variety of names.

Legacy

Academy library

In the late 1940s, Selig made a large donation of business records to the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

Library. The William Selig papers, together with the donation, include Selig's correspondence, scripts, scrapbooks, production files and six feet of photographs that include production stills from over 500 films that are otherwise lost (only about 225 of the over 3,500 films released by Selig between 1896 and 1938 have survived into the present day). This collection still requires further study.

Lost films

The potential of movies as long term sources of revenue was unknown to early movie industry executives. Films were made quickly, sent into distribution channels and mostly forgotten soon after their first runs. Surviving prints were typically stored haphazardly, if at all. Nitrate film stock, in common use until the mid-20th Century, is chemically volatile and many prints were lost in fires or decomposed in storage. Some were recycled for their

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

content or simply thrown away to save space. Out of Selig Polyscope's hundreds of films, only a few copies and scattered photographic elements are known to survive.

Partial filmography

*'' The Tramp and the Dog'' (1896) *'' Soldiers at Play'' (1898) *'' Something Good – Negro Kiss'' (1898) *'' Chicago Police Parade'' (1901) *'' Dewey Parade'' (1901) *'' Gans-McGovern Fight'' (1901) *'' Fun at the Glenwood Springs Pool'' (1902) *'' A Hot Time on a Bathing Beach'' (1903) *'' Business Rivalry'' (1903) *'' Chicago Fire Run'' (1903) *'' Chicago Firecats on Parade'' (1903) *'' The Girl in Blue'' (1903) *'' Trip Around The Union Loop'' (1903) *'' View of State Street'' (1903) *'' Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek'' (1904) (survives) *'' Humpty Dumptry'' (1904) *'' The Tramp Dog'' (1904) *'' The Hold-Up of the Leadville Stage'' (1904) *'' The Grafter'' (1907) *''

'' (1908) *'' Damon and Pythias'' (1908) *'' The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays'' (1908) *'' Briton and Boer'' (1909) *'' Hunting Big Game in Africa'' (1909) *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1910) (survives) *'' The Sergeant'' (1910) (survives) *'' The Way of the Eskimo'' (1911) *'' Lost in the Arctic'' (1911) *'' Life on the Border'' (1911) (partial section survives) *'' The Coming of Columbus'' (1911) *'' Brotherhood of Man'' (1912) *'' Kings of the Forest'' (1912) *'' The Other Fellow'' (1912) *'' War Time Romance'' (1912) *'' The Adventures of Kathlyn'' (1913) *'' Arabia, the Equine Detective'' (1913) *'' The Devil and Tom Walker'' (1913) *'' The Sheriff of Yavapai County'' (1913) *'' Wamba A Child of the Jungle'' (1913) *'' The Spoilers'' (1914) (survives) *'' A Black Sheep'' (1915) *'' House of a Thousand Candles'' (1915) *'' The Man from Texas'' (1915) *'' The Crisis'' (1916) *'' The Garden of Allah'' (1916) *'' The City of Purple Dreams'' (1918) *''

Little Orphant Annie "Little Orphant Annie" is an 1885 poem written by James Whitcomb Riley and published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. First titled "The Elf Child", the name was changed by Riley to "Little Orphant Allie" at its third printing; however, a typesetting ...

'' (1918)

References

External links

Lincoln Heights page with pictures of recovered statues
*
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
' (one of Selig Polyscope Company's few surviving films) download at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{Authority control Entertainment companies established in 1896 Mass media companies established in 1896 Mass media companies disestablished in 1918 Silent film studios Defunct American film studios American silent films by studio Film studios in Southern California Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Film production companies of the United States Film production companies established in the 1890s