Welcome to Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History

Author's Introduction .

by Q. David Bowers

In 1909, Edwin Thanhouser, fresh from a distinguished career on the stage and a financially rewarding stint as a theatre manager, decided to invest in a new venture. This was an era of rapidly developing technology, and in particular two subjects beckoned: aviation and motion pictures. After due consideration, he felt that his theatre background would stand him well in the latter field, whereas aviation represented an unknown. So, motion pictures it was, and in 1909 the Thanhouser Company was formed, later to be succeeded by the Thanhouser Film Corporation. In the early years it wasn't easy for an outsider to enter the motion picture business, and the alliance of the old-line Patents Company firms - Edison, Lubin, Vitagraph, Biograph, etc. - made it difficult for a newcomer or "Independent" to secure basic supplies such as cameras and film.

Despite numerous adversities, the years 1910 and 1911 saw Edwin Thanhouser and his Thanhouser Company go from one success to another as his series of one-reelers reached an ever widening audience. Claiming to eschew slapstick comedy and burlesque (although some such films slipped in anyway), Thanhouser presented a mix of classic tales, combined with mysteries, dramas, and light comedy. During this time nearly all scenarios, including adaptations from other works of literature, came from Lloyd F. Lonergan, his brother-in-law, who had been a prolific newspaper and magazine writer earlier. Alone among American motion picture producers, Thanhouser advised trade publications that it did not buy manuscripts from outsiders.

New Rochelle, New York, a town immortalized (or defamed, depending upon one's viewpoint) by George M. Cohan in his 1906 play, Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway, was the site of the birth, growth, and eventual demise of the Thanhouser film enterprise.

Although I had encountered occasional mention of Thanhouser in various film reference books and trade journals, it was not until I engaged in research for my book, Muriel Ostriche: Princess of Silent Films, that I realized what an interesting company it was. Miss Ostriche, who in a contest in 1913 was named the second most popular movie actress in America, starred in numerous Thanhouser films, and in studying her involvement with the company, I became acquainted with some aspects of Thanhouser history.

The more I read about Thanhouser, the more interesting the company became. Here was a studio which at one time was among the most respected film producers in America, not a giant enterprise, to be sure, but a medium-sized one, a company that turned out over a thousand films, generally fine subjects that on balance were acclaimed by reviewers and the public alike (although, of course, there were numerous exceptions). Seeking to read what modern film historians had to say on the subject, I consulted the standard sources and soon learned that with the exception of an excellent chapter in Anthony Slide's Aspects of American Film History Prior to 1920, virtually nothing had appeared in print. True, there were some scattered mentions of the Thanhouser studio fire and narrow escapes therefrom, and I found notes here and there about such Thanhouser players as James Cruze and Florence LaBadie, but in the way of substantive information about the company there was nothing. I was not surprised, for with the notable exceptions of Biograph and Vitagraph, no comprehensive modern books on any American studios of the 1895-1920 years existed.

It was my intention from the beginning to use original source material. As it turned out, there was no alternative. As my manuscript for Muriel Ostriche: Princess of Silent Films neared completion in 1986, I increasingly thought about doing a separate book about Thanhouser. On hand by that time was an impressively large pile of photocopies of articles I had gathered about the studio. If I had my preference, I should have encouraged someone else to write the book so that I could read it! However, although numerous film historians were interested in Thanhouser, none had any thought of beginning a manuscript. So, as a committee of one I went ahead.

First consulted, from cover to cover, were trade publications. I began with the most popular trade journal of all, The Moving Picture World, with which I was quite familiar from earlier research on different projects. By going through issues from 1909 onward I was able to gain much data about the Thanhouser operations. That was just the beginning. From there I went to The Billboard, The Nickelodeon (name later changed to Motography), The Moving Picture News (name later changed to The Motion Picture News), The New York Dramatic Mirror, The Exhibitors Herald, Film Index, The Exhibitor's Trade Review, Variety, and every other trade journal I could lay my hands on, either in original or microfilm form.

Finishing my work with these standard sources, I then plunged into the relatively unsearched (by modern film researchers) field of contemporary newspapers. The Morning Telegraph, a New York City paper, yielded a treasure trove of reviews and contemporary comments, including insights and information not matched elsewhere. The Evening Mail and its short-lived supplement, Motion Picture Mail, published in New York City, was another find. Beyond that, numerous university and library collections were consulted, none more so than the Robinson Locke Collection at the New York Public Library, in which my esteemed researcher, Margaret Gray, spent the best part of a year sifting clippings and information from nearly 900 scrapbooks. Other researchers helped in New Rochelle, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.

The newspapers of the studio's home town, particularly The New Rochelle Pioneer and The Evening Standard, were carefully searched by Rick Moody and Margaret Gray, and yielded a gold mine of data. The many newspapers consulted from New Rochelle, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and elsewhere were important sources of information, inasmuch as they revealed the unvarnished side of the studio, its personnel, and its products. Information concerning marriages and divorces, hirings and firings, accidents, legal actions, and, especially, anything unfavorable - the type of material that would not contribute to the image of the subject involved and thus might not find its way into The Moving Picture World and other trade journals - was to be found in newspapers. When all was said and done, I had a pleasant situation confronting me: By my own research and that of those who supplied information, I had acquired thousands of clippings and contemporary news articles on the Thanhouser studio and the personalities involved.

A question posed itself: Should I interpret or paraphrase the thousands of original printed items encountered, or should I reprint them verbatim? I decided upon a combination. For many events - and the January 13, 1913 studio fire is a good example - there were dozens of clippings and articles from which to choose. I gathered as much information as possible, and then quoted verbatim what I considered relevant, pointing out errors, exaggerations, and omissions. By reading original source material reprinted in the present work, the reader can see how the Thanhouser studio was viewed in its own time. I believe that it is my function to report the history of Thanhouser, not to create or improvise it, and most certainly not to analyze it in comparison with the modern film industry. In that way, the author hopes that the present work will not become dated, and that the text presented today will be equally relevant to researchers a decade or two hence (except for new information that may come to light in the meantime).

A challenge to the film researcher is to determine the truth. News releases issued by Thanhouser and other companies were one thing, and the truth was often likely to be another. Trade publications, careful not to offend advertisers or to criticize the film industry, usually reprinted verbatim whatever was sent to them. If a company was mismanaged, owned by scoundrels, was taking advantage of the public, or was turning out positively wretched films, chances are that these deficiencies would be overlooked. Thanhouser was managed by competent people for most of its existence, and its intentions were honorable, but Bert Adler, its long-time publicity director, wasn't averse to embellishing the truth if it would suit the company's purposes. In an effort to sort fact from fiction, corporation records, court documents, contemporary newspaper clippings, and other data have been particularly helpful.

And yet some mysteries remain. When Thanhouser signed noted stage actress Maude Fealy to a film contract, all sorts of premature announcements were made. According to a news item Miss Fealy soon would "join the Thanhouser Company on an expedition to Nova Scotia, where Evangeline will be given a most elaborate production in the original locale of Longfellow's immortal book among 'the murmuring pines and hemlocks' of 'the forest primeval.'" Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale and Tennyson's Elaine were also said to be scheduled. Although The Winter's Tale had been produced by Thanhouser in 1910, no later version with Maude Fealy was made, nor did the New Rochelle firm release films under the titles of Evangeline or Elaine. These mysteries can be disposed of as being just so much wishful thinking or press agentry.

The August 23, 1913 issue of Reel Life, the promotional magazine of the Mutual Program, printed a full-page synopsis of a Thanhouser film titled Cranston's Hallucination. However, the author can locate no record that a film was ever released under this title. Was Cranston's Hallucination the working title of a film we know under a different name? Was it a film made by Thanhouser but released by Majestic, Reliance, or some other related company? This sort of thing happened now and then. Or was the synopsis indeed a hallucination, an idea that never came to pass? If so, then where did the pictures used to illustrate the Reel Life entry come from? Therein lies the puzzle.

What about The Fall of Khartoum, a film featuring Florence LaBadie, that was scheduled for release in 1914? Reel Life printed a notice in its December 27th issue, which told about Michael Schliesser, keeper of the Thanhouser Zoo, and his connection with coming events: "Many of the feature scripts call for lions, tigers, and other beasts of the jungle, and Schliesser, who was with Hagenbeck of Germany, will find himself a busy man. One of these scripts is The Fall of Khartoum, which calls for elephants and camels in addition to other animals." And yet, nothing is known of this film. When the present research project began, there were dozens of such mysteries, but one by one they were whittled down. Only a few now remain.

More should be said about Reel Life. This magazine was sent free to theatre owners, exchanges, and others, and at one time claimed a circulation of 20,000 copies weekly. However, about 19,999 copies of the average issue seem to have disappeared, for issues are exceedingly rare today. Luck was with me, and early in the research for the present work I acquired a nearly complete set, consisting of all issues from the summer of 1913 onward. In the pages of Reel Life the publicists for the various Mutual Film Corporation divisions - Thanhouser, Reliance, Majestic, Broncho, American, Kay-Bee, etc. - could say whatever they wished, without fear of contradiction. This led more to sloppiness than abuse in the periodical, and more errors are found in Mutual's own magazine than in the general trade press! Although today this periodical stands as by far the best single source of contemporary Thanhouser (and Mutual) information, the data must be ingested with a large grain of salt and an awareness that unless certain facts can be verified elsewhere, they should be viewed with caution, if not with skepticism. Take the spelling of certain Thanhouser players' names, which was often atrocious, with Wayne Arey's last name appearing as "Aery," "Avery," and "Eyrie," for example! The dates given in news releases were often inaccurate, as it was not unusual for Reel Life to state that someone had just arrived at the Thanhouser studio when, in fact, he had appeared on the screen in Thanhouser films months before!

The Moving Picture World didn't win any spelling prizes either, nor did any other trade journal of the era. Riley Chamberlin's surname was misspelled "Chamberlain" with great frequency, Frances Keyes often appeared in print as Francis Keyes, and Arthur Bauer must have thought his last name was Bower if he read enough press notices. There were other complications as well. Marguerite Marsh changed her name to Marguerite Loveridge, then after much discussion in the trade press, back to Marguerite Marsh. During the World War, Fraunie Fraunholz thought the Germanic sound of his last name would not be appreciated by moviegoers; so for the duration he changed it to Fraunie French. In October 1918, former Thanhouser actor Hermann Lieb announced that he was changing his name to Harmon Lee.

Special mention should be made of Irene Farrington, who was seen in Princess films in 1914. Young Irene was nicknamed Reenie, and this was the name she and the studio wanted in film credits. However, trade publications couldn't accept this, and they helpfully corrected it to Rene, or with an accent as René, or to Renee!

Then there is the Thanhouser name. Few publications could spell it correctly with consistency. Such variations as Tanhouser, Thanhauser, and Tanhauser appeared with regularity. Pronunciation was another problem. Family members then and now pronounce it with the "th" as in "theatre." However, somewhere along the line it became popular to pronounce it as "Tanhouser," leaving out the first "h". Every so often a trade or fan magazine would print a clarification, as in The Motion Picture Story Magazine, October 1913: "It is pronounced 'Than,' and not 'Tan,' in Thanhouser." Matters weren't helped when the studio decided to produce a film version of the Wagner opera Tannhäuser!

The Motion Picture Story Magazine stands today as one of the most interesting sources of information from the Thanhouser era, but many of the "Answer Man's" monthly replies to queries were guesses, often wild ones. Thus, the December 1912 issue informed readers that A Modern Portia was a Thanhouser film, when in reality it was made by Lubin in Philadelphia. The November 1913 issue broke the news that "Dot Farley is with Thanhouser." She may have moved to a new studio at the time, but it wasn't in New Rochelle. Often when the "Answer Man" saw a child in a Thanhouser film he assumed it was Marie Eline, the Thanhouser Kid, even though it may have been someone else, as in The Little Brother, for which the magazine in February 1914 named Marie Eline in the title role, while the real player was little Leland Benham. Similarly, the same fan magazine wasn't averse to mixing up or changing titles, such as The Life Saver instead of Louie, the Life Saver (in its issue of March 1914), The Haunted House instead of The Mystery of the Haunted Hotel (issue of February 1914), or the considerably shortened Orator, instead of Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer (issue of December 1912). Despite a multitude of errors, the periodical furnished much worthwhile information, especially concerning how Thanhouser players were appreciated by the moviegoing public. All in all, here is a wonderful magazine, and one which, after a few copies are assimilated in detail, imparts a sense of "you are there" to the reader even now, three-quarters of a century later.

Mention should be made of several Thanhouser events that might have been, but weren't. When Romeoers, Making the Major a Mayor, and Running Rival Restaurants were produced, a week or more of effort went into each of these one-reel comedies, but they ended as the proverbial faces on the cutting room floor; no audiences ever saw them. Not much can be written about the Thanhouser films directed by G.A. Beggs. Although he was hired in early July 1915 as a director, he telephoned Edwin Thanhouser on the 27th of the month to say that he would not be coming to New Rochelle, for he had accepted a "large offer" from a West Coast studio instead. Did Owen Moore, husband of Mary Pickford, work at the Thanhouser studio? Maybe so, but probably no - it depends upon which story you read.

Edwin Thanhouser, Joan Thanhouser Sherman, and Pego Paar - grandchildren of Edwin Thanhouser - enthusiastically supported my project and lent family scrapbooks, clipping files, photographs, and other data, shedding much light on what would otherwise have been an obscure area: Edwin Thanhouser's career prior to his motion picture activities. I am indeed fortunate to have had access to these archives, for in most other cases there is very little detailed information which survives concerning the early lives of pioneer motion picture company owners.

Muriel Ostriche, one of the most important Thanhouser players, contributed many first-hand recollections of days at the studio. In a series of interviews she provided much information that would have been otherwise lost to history. At the time of her death in 1989 at the age of 93, Miss Ostriche was the oldest living major actress who had worked with the Thanhouser enterprise. Grace Eline, sister of Marie Eline (the Thanhouser Kid), shared her reminiscences of the days of long ago in New Rochelle. How envious I am of Robert Hamilton Ball, the only modern film scholar to have personally interviewed Edwin Thanhouser, which he did in the 1940s in connection with his book, Shakespeare on Silent Film, published in 1968. How unfortunate it is that Ball limited his questioning of the studio's founder to the narrow subject of Shakespeare, for what priceless information could have been gathered in other areas as well.

The cast of characters who helped with the present work is a long and illustrious one and is given in the acknowledgments section of the present volume. To each and every one goes my heartfelt "Thank you!"

Archival photographs were generously shared by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Museum of the Moving Image, Dominick Bruzzese, and Ralph Graham, M.D., all of whom possessed wonderful files of original photographic material. From these sources plus illustrations from other archives and from trade publications, I had enough images to illustrate a half dozen books on Thanhouser - a blessing of riches!

How to distill all of the printed information, photographs, and other material was the next problem. No one would want to read or pay for a long series of books on Thanhouser, a multi-volume set which had the potential of approaching the Encyclopaedia Britannica in size! On the other hand, with so much information at my fingertips, it seemed a shame to condense all of this into a publication of just a couple of hundred pages in length, although a 200-page book on Thanhouser would have contributed much to the current fund of information. The result was a combination of print and CD-ROM technology, a hefty compilation which could have been titled All You Ever Wanted to Know About Thanhouser, Plus a Lot You Never Cared About. In any event, the printed pages and CD-ROM disc contain significant facts and obscure ones, information concerning great actors and actresses as well as those who appeared in just a single picture, complimentary as well as condemnatory film reviews - this and much more is presented with the hope that you will come to know Thanhouser films almost first hand, the next best thing to having been there in the old wooden skating rink or, later, at 46 Main Street in New Rochelle.

For the convenience of readers I have divided the work into three sections:

The first is the printed narrative history of the Thanhouser enterprise, beginning with Edwin Thanhouser's early life and career, continuing through the activities of the Thanhouser Company and the Thanhouser Film Corporation, followed by Edwin Thanhouser's later life, with the greatest emphasis throughout being on Thanhouser films produced from 1909 through 1917.

The second section is the Thanhouser filmography on CD-ROM, listing all films (over 1,000) known to me, the identities of the people who participated in them, synopses, and selected articles and reviews.

The third part is the biographical section on CD-ROM, which gives information on the lives of over 1,000 players and employees associated one way or another with the Thanhouser studio.

Thanhouser films were as varied as the medium of motion pictures itself. On the one hand were classics - works from Shakespeare and Dickens, 19th-century novels, stage plays, the foundation stones of literature. On the other hand were comedies with improbable plots. Examples include a lover encased in a suit of armor who is unceremoniously sold to the junk man, the daughter of a prison warden whose cooking was so fine that citizens stood in line to be locked up, and a lad learning to drive an automobile around the living room and dining room of his home in order to avoid the dangers of the street.

Edwin Thanhouser and Charles J. Hite, who each captained the studio over a period, endeavored to create an aesthetically satisfying product and to turn a profit. Sometimes the two objectives were compatible, and sometimes they weren't. While many reviewers agreed that dramatizing David Copperfield and The Merchant of Venice for the screen was a fine thing to do, not everyone shared Edwin Thanhouser's view that the nude Audrey Munson, shown on the screen modeling for statues, was a contribution to art.

Time and again one reviewer considered a given Thanhouser film to be just about the best ever, while another reviewer with equal conviction consigned it to the trash can.

Through these films paraded a host of players, ranging from well-known figures like Florence LaBadie, Maude Fealy, Muriel Ostriche, Marguerite Snow, and Mignon Anderson on the distaff side, to James Cruze, William Russell, William Garwood, Riley Chamberlin, and Harry Benham among males, to hundreds of extras and bit players. Somewhere in between were supporting players like Inda Palmer, Arthur Bauer, Carey L. Hastings, Janet Henry, and Alphonse Ethier, who remained at the studio a long time but were rarely mentioned in credits.

It is interesting to note that though any steady reader of fan magazines during the Thanhouser years would have known Florence LaBadie, James Cruze, and other players well, by 1925, a decade later, many of these names were forgotten. However, in 1913 in nationwide popularity contests held by America's two most important fan magazines, The Motion Picture Story Magazine and The Photoplay Magazine, Thanhouser players far outswept the entries of any other studio. Clearly, in its day the Thanhouser film enterprise and its players comprised a key element of the industry.

If one actor or actress - just one individual - had to be singled out as the Thanhouser player, it would have to be Florence LaBadie. Arriving at the studio in 1911, she remained there until the last film in 1917. Along the way she endeared herself to millions of theatre patrons. Beautiful, strong-willed, intelligent, compassionate, athletic, daring - these and many other adjectives could describe this best-known Thanhouser personality. At one time, I thought about writing a biography of Miss LaBadie for I had come to know her well through the countless articles, press clippings, and photographs I had accumulated. Like many other players, male and female, of the era, Florence was often referred to as a daredevil. In a time in which doubles were not often used for dangerous scenes, most leading players could recount several near misses with fate, and the popular press made the most of such incidents.

Another Thanhouser player, in a category by herself, was the actress known as "Miss Beautiful." Here was a famous society figure who wanted to conceal her identity and didn't want her picture to appear in print. This at least was what Bert Adler, Thanhouser's publicity director, said. Although the reproduction of her face was forbidden on the printed page, it was permitted on the screen, an inconsistency never explained. After a few months of press agentry nonsense, it was revealed that "Miss Beautiful" was Adele Rey. The only problem was that "Adele Rey" was also a pseudonym! Will the real Evelyn Prevost, a.k.a. "Miss Beautiful," a.k.a. Adele Rey, please stand up!

Unforgettable was Al Jennings, one-time outlaw turned actor, who descended upon New Rochelle and was fêted in grand style. One would have thought the King of England had visited! Speaking of titled individuals, the Duke of Manchester thought that starting a motion picture company would have great investment possibilities, and he came to the Thanhouser studio to learn more about the field. After he made pretentious statements and appeared in an episode of The Million Dollar Mystery, the duke's plans went awry.

Thanhouser scored a coup by bringing star players from the Philadelphia Athletics, fresh from winning the World Series, to New Rochelle to appear in The Baseball Bug. Theodore Roosevelt, who without question was the most colorful politician of the early 20th century, was seen in one Thanhouser film, possibly two.

Cameramen such as Carl Louis Gregory, Alfred H. Moses, Jr., Blair Smith, the Williams brothers, the Cronjager brothers, Arthur A. Cadwell, Lawrence Fowler, George K. Hollister, and others made things happen, but received little publicity. Likewise generally ignored by the press, especially in the earlier years, were directors such as Lucius Henderson, Lawrence Marston, Lloyd B. Carleton, and Barry O'Neil.

There were successes at the Thanhouser studio, there were failures, there were happy moments, and there were tragic events. All of these were enacted in a microcosm, for the enterprise was born, grew up, and died in New Rochelle. Unlike the majority of its contemporaries, it did not merge with another company, or acquire any other, or file for bankruptcy when its business ended, or disappear by being absorbed into something else. Rather, Thanhouser stood on its own, except for its involvement with the Mutual Film Corporation.

From time to time, new ideas were tried. For a period the Princess and Falstaff films were produced by separate departments, and there were branch studios, which were meant to be permanent, at Los Angeles and Jacksonville.

Edwin Thanhouser, whose background was the stage, exhibited a bias toward classic plays, and it is probably correct to say that he was more enthusiastic than anyone else when he decided to dramatize for the screen Cymbeline, a lesser-known Shakespeare opus, as well as such Shakespeare productions as The Tempest and The Winter's Tale. Educators applauded, but whether patrons would take nickels from their pockets and pay them through cashiers' windows was another question. Similarly, Edwin Thanhouser was as pleased as punch to enlist the services of Frederick C. Warde, an old-time Shakespearean actor. True to motion picture promotion, Warde's earlier motion picture experiences with other firms were ignored, and his Thanhouser work was billed as his first. Also overlooked was his somewhat checkered career, his skipping out on a stage contract, and his filing for personal bankruptcy. Anticipating what Hollywood would do later with many actors, Thanhouser lionized Warde and billed him as one of the greatest stars ever.

Although Edwin Thanhouser enjoyed the stage, he fell readily into the motion-picture mold, and it wasn't long after the Thanhouser Company was established that it was considered by reviewers to be head and shoulders above other Independent firms. If one word could summarize the Thanhouser reputation during the early years it is quality.

Time went on, and Charles J. Hite came on the scene. He was a young, ambitious, enthusiastic entrepreneur who had gone from school teacher to film exchange operator to corporate director. Hite was a rare individual, a man of great intelligence and business ability who was also a caring, sharing individual with time for the most trivial problem of an employee. Hite was the genius behind The Million Dollar Mystery, Thanhouser's 23-episode 1914 serial which lived up to its name by earning more than a million dollars and, in the process, becoming the most profitable serial up to that time. Then came Zudora, but that is a different story. Hite was to leave the moving picture scene all too quickly, and it is probably accurate to say that had he remained, the history of motion pictures in America would be significantly different from what it is today.

The later years of the studio's existence saw a change in philosophy. The one-reel subjects so popular in 1910 gave way to multiple-reel features (although no one was ever to explain satisfactorily what constituted a feature and what did not). The public demanded stars - or at least was willing to part with more nickels, dimes, and quarters to see them. The stock players of an earlier year were augmented by names which, it was hoped, would be drawing cards. Maude Fealy and Frederick Warde were examples.

Another was Valkyrien, a silken-haired goddess proclaimed by the King of Denmark to be the finest embodiment of traditional Norse beauty. Whether Mlle. Valkyrien was intellectual or naive depends upon which columns one reads, but most agreed that she was indeed beautiful to behold. Not to be overlooked were Gladys Hulette, Grace DeCarlton, and an actress who was to become a stage star and the sensation of gossip columns in the next decade, Jeanne Eagels.

There were the Thanhouser people and animals - starting with Marie Eline, first billed as the Thanhouser Kid in 1910, and then the Thanhouser Kidlet, the much-admired Thanhouser Twins, the Thanhouser Poodle, the Thanhouser Monkey, and even the Thanhouser Zoo! Nor can we forget Steve, the Thanhouser Snake.

To say that the story of Thanhouser films is the story of the motion picture industry would not be true, for the story of the industry is composed of many companies, and Thanhouser was no more like Lubin, Kalem, Edison, or Universal, than California is like Maine, Minnesota, or Texas. However, certain problems encountered by Thanhouser were common to the entire industry, and without question Thanhouser was a vital stone in the foundation of the industry during the release period of Thanhouser pictures, March 1910 through October 1917.

In 1917 Edwin Thanhouser announced his retirement, and by the end of the year the New Rochelle studio was Thanhouser in name only. No additional films were produced under that label. Thus ended an era which saw the production of more than 1,000 pictures.

What shortcomings the present work may have can be laid at the author's doorstep. Any credit for the work must be shared with my illustrious group of contributors. In particular I wish to recognize Margaret Gray, whose countless hours of research brought to light many items which would not otherwise have been found, and whose intelligence, ideas, and insights continually delighted me; Linda Kowall, whose enthusiasm was extremely helpful during the long period of research for the project and who copyread the manuscript; Rick Moody, who unearthed much original information in New Rochelle and who was a contributor from the earliest date, in fact, even before the idea of a book crystallized; and Anthony Slide, whose writing in the area of film history served as an inspiration, who was my mentor on the project, and who copyread the manuscript and wrote the foreword. Edwin Wagenknecht, distinguished author and film historian, copyread the manuscript and made many suggestions. Kathy Fuller provided numerous ideas and a great deal of support in seeing the project to completion. Grace Houghton of the Vestal Press seized the project and ran with it, so to speak, and became ultimately responsible for its production, with Ned Thanhouser providing much help in CD-ROM technology. In no instance did any of the individuals or institutions contacted exhibit anything less than enthusiasm for the project, a reflection on the quality of the individuals involved in the field of film history.