Early Cinema Collection (1904-1918)
Cinema emerged in the late-nineteenth century through a combination of new advancements in technology with old traditions of screen presentation. Although some historians date the emergence of cinema back to 1880 or earlier, our Early Cinema Collection begins in 1904 with The Optical Lantern and Cinematograph Journal, a publication that attests to the continued use of magic lantern presentational techniques into the early-20th century.
The highlight of our Early Cinema collection is the 1912 to 1918 run of the Moving Picture World, one of the earliest trade papers of the motion picture industry. The heyday of the Moving Picture World was during the 1910s and the period that film historians have called cinema’s “transitional era” (lasting roughly from 1908 to 1917). As a series of dramatic changes swept the industry, including the rise of the star system, the transition from short films to features, the decline of the Motion Picture Patents Company (generally associated with its largest stakeholder, Thomas Edison), and the rise of “Independent” companies that became the Hollywood studios. Showmen read Moving Picture World to stay abreast of the rapidly changing marketplace and the latest batch of pictures. Even reading now, one hundred years later, you can feel the dizzying energy of change.
New Addition – April 2012: The U.S. vs. Motion Picture Patents Company: Thanks to funding from Domitor and materials loaned by the Museum of Modern Art, the Early Cinema Collection now includes seven volumes of testimonies and supporting documents from the U.S. District Court’s 1912-1913 antitrust lawsuit against the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Formed in 1908, the MPPC (sometimes referred to as “the Edison Trust” or just “the Trust”) sought to control the American film industry through pooling patents and demanding that producers and exhibitors acquire licenses to those patents. Independent producers and exhibitors, who refused to license the patents, argued that the Trust was an unlawful monopoly. The District Court hearings include testimonies from both MPPC members, such as Siegmund Lubin, and “Independents” who later became Hollywood moguls, such as William Fox. Ultimately, in 1915, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the MPPC in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and spelled the end for the already weakening Trust.
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Testimony of Witnesses for the Petitioner
Marvin, Harry N.
Pelzer, William
Rosenbluh, Louis
Swanson, William H.
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Exhibits
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Testimony of Witnesses for the Petitioner
Adams, Peter
Anderson, William J.
Balsley, Charles H.
Bates, Thomas H.
Bennethum, George W.
Boone, Acton R.
Boyer, Charles W.
Carlton, James L.
Clapham, A. J.
Devery, William
Ensor, J. M.
Fox, William
Graham, J. C.
Henry, J. Henkel
Hopp, Joseph
Karson, Louis
Lessy, Michael
Lodge, James J.
Mandelbaum, Emanuel
Michael, Julius H.
Miles, Herbert
Pelzer, William
Rosenbluh, Louis
Sawyer, A. H.
Solz, Reuben
Streyckmans, Hector J.
Swaab, Lewis M.
Swanson, William H.
Thorp, Edgar A.
Ruling of Judge Ray on Question Asked L. M. Swaabe by Counsel for Defendants
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Witness
Braden, John
Defendants’ Exhibits
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Testimony of Witnesses for the Defendants
Berst, J.A.
Dyer, Frank L.
Fobster, Joseph
Hardin, John
Howard, Frank J.
Jefferys, Fred.
Koerpel, Jonas A.
Machat, Nathan
Marvin, H.N.
Smith, Albert E.
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Exhibits
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Testimony of Witnesses for the Defendants
Aiken, Fred C.
Anthony, Frederick A.
Armat, Thomas
Atwater, L. W.
Auger, Edward
Bauerfreund, Adolph
Berst, J. A.
Blackton, James Stuart
Brandon, William C.
Brandt, William
Cohen, George
Edwards, Calvin S.
Etris, Robert
Gilligham, Albert J.
Goff, Albert W.
Greenburg, Abraham
Hansen, Matthew
Haring, Charles F.
Hatch, Stanley W.
Herbst, William P.
Keirtscher, William F.
Kinson, Walter F.
Landau, William A.
LeBeau, Ralph
Long, Samuel
Marsey, Harry
Morgan, Joseph P.
Nichols, Harry E.
Pearson, Elmer R.
Preller, William C.
Sawin, Chester W.
Scheck, Philip J.
Schuchert, J. A.
Schwalbe, Harry
Shirley, Samuel H.
Stephens, Thomas W.
Super, Edward M.
Tredick, Alton
Van Ronkel. Ike
Wates, Herbert C.
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Exhibits
Testimony of Witnesses for the Defendants
Aiken, Fred C.
Baumann, Charles O.
Boehringer, E.
Braley, Ora L.
Brandon, William C.
Brown, Floyd
Brown, Thomas A.
Choynski, Morris A.
Clark, James B.
Collier, John
Cook, Frank
Cross, Glenn A.
Cummings, Joseph M.
Denniston, Joseph R.
Evans, John G.
Feinler, Charles A.
Gibbons, N. H.
Graham, Howell
Greene, Walter W. R.
Haas, Otto
Hall, Otto P.
Hennegan, John, F.
Hunter, James W.
Jones, C. R.
Katz, Samuel
Kenney, Frank M.
Kenney, W. Allen
Kent, Leland B.
Kessler, John Daniel
Lubin, Siegmund
Matthews, Anna S.
Milder, Max
Mogler, Joseph
Morgan, Houston, N.
Morris, Samuel E.
Murray, William T.
Newsome, H. M.
Palmer, Warren R.
Peltier, Robert G.
Penman, John, Jr.
Powell, Adolph
Rosenquest, J. Wesley
Ruben, Isaac H.
Scherer, Harry W.
Simons, Edwin M.
Slocum, Henry R.
Smith, Edward M.
Spoor, George K.
Stiebel, Joseph L.
Struble, Cornelius D.
Thomas, Horace M.
Warner, Jacob
Waters,, Percival L.
Williams, Theodore W.
Worthington, Charles L.
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Exhibits
Testimony of Witnesses for the Defendants
Brylawski, Aaron
Kennedy, Jeremiah J.
Lubin, Siegmund
Marvin, Harry N.
Matthews, Anna S.
Spoor, George K.
Talmadge, Arthur E.
Waters, Pebcival L.
Beach, Frederick C.
Brick, Alfred D.
Brulatour, Jules E.
Streyckmans, Hector J. (recalled)
Swaar, Lewis M. (recalled)
Weiss, Alfred
Henry, Thomas Yarrow
Wright, William
Defendants’ Evidence in Surrebuttal
Petitioner’s Evidence in Rebuttal
Stipulations
Petitioner’s Exhibits
Defendants’ Exhibits
(1) Alphabetical Index to Agreements by Parties. pages III-X
(2) Agreements in Chronological Order. pages 3-664
(3) Appendix. pages 655-664
(4) Chronological Index of Agreements. pages 665-720
(5) General Subject Matter Index of Agreements. pages 721-723
