The Balboa Amusement Producing Company (also known as Balboa Studios) was a film production company in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, from 1913 to 1918 that produced more than 1000 films, around 90% of which have been

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 ...

. Some of the notable

silent film 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, w ...

stars who worked at the studios during this time are

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

and

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

also made three visits to the studios to visit Arbuckle's film shoots and to study studio management for his newly formed

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

company.

History

In 1910, the California Motion Picture Manufacturing Company built the first movie studio in the city of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

. This was also the first studio west of Chicago, since the hub of film-making at that time was in New York. In April 1913, H. M. Horkheimer (along with his brother, Elwood) invested their inheritance in the purchase of the studio built by the California Motion Picture Manufacturing Company at the corner of 6th Street and Alamitos Ave. This became the center of their Balboa Amusement Producing Company.

Jack London

A contract between Balboa and

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

was signed on April 28, 1913, allowing the studio to make film adaptations of his novels. In the beginning of August, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' announced a contract between the Bosworth Company and Jack London to produce film versions of London's novels. The first release would be '' The Sea Wolf''. The Balboa company would advertise that they would be the first to release the film and announced their own version of ''The Sea Wolf'' and several other adaptations of London's works. In an article in ''

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' in which

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Early life Bosworth was born on August 11, 1867, in Marietta, Ohio. His father was a sea captain in the Civil W ...

stated the production would be ready by October 1 and there is no reason to doubt the contract between Bosworth and London. The publication received a telegram from Jack London confirmed that Balboa's contract had lapsed because of a failure to produce four films by the stipulated date.

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

also stated that the first film had not even been completed by this point. When the matter was taken to court, the federal judge in Los Angeles refused to grant an injunction on Balboa's three reel version of the film and H. M. Horkheimer was considering suing for damages by Bosworth. The judge allowed the case to be re-opened and the Authors' League of America announced a desire to take it to the United States Supreme Court if necessary. London would win and the case would influence the United States Congress to change the copyright law in the writer's favor.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control 1913 establishments in California 1918 disestablishments in California American companies established in 1913 Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1913 Film production companies of the United States History of Long Beach, California Mass media companies established in 1913 Mass media companies disestablished in 1918 American companies disestablished in 1918