Thanhouser Company
Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.
705 NW Albemarle Terrace
Portland, OR 97210 USA
E-mail: tco@thanhouser.org
Internet: http://www.thanhouser.org
  Trademark     			          Press Contact: Ned Thanhouser (503) 677-7020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Silent Movie Theatre to Screen Rare Thanhouser Films
Grandson of Pioneering Silent Film Founders to Speak
PORTLAND, OR – The Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood, California will present on July 27th at 8:00 pm a unique program featuring newly discovered silent films produced by the pioneering Thanhouser Company.
The only silent cinema in the USA, the Silent Movie Theatre is located at 611 West Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood, California. Re-opened in November 1999, it screens silent movies with live musical accompaniment 52 weeks of the year.
Thanhouser Company was notable for its role as an important leader in the rebellion of the "Independents" against the Motion Picture Patents Trust associated with Thomas Edison. An extraordinarily active and energetic film company, Thanhouser thrived from 1909 to 1918 in New Rochelle, NY where it produced and released to worldwide distribution over 1,000 silent films.
Three rarely seen Thanhouser silent films have been provided exclusively for this program by The Library of Congress in Washington, DC:
•	Only in the Way (1911) – A sentimental one-reel drama that centers on a universal topic, family disharmony. It features one of Thanhouser’s earliest stars, child actress Marie Eline, who was one of the few early movie players to receive screen credit.
•	The Evidence of the Film (1913) – Discovered last year on the floor of a Superior, Montana projection booth, this 14 minute drama was recently preserved by the Library of Congress. It is a clever and unusual example of a fictional dramatic movie with filmmaking as its subject.
•	The Unfortunate Marriage (1917) – One of Thanhouser’s last productions, this five-reel feature film was released in 1917 by Thanhouser in conjunction with Pathé Exchange. It features Florence LaBadie, the company’s most prominent player, in a dual role as an heiress and as a feeble-minded lunatic.
Ned Thanhouser, grandson of founders Edwin and Gertrude Thanhouser, will present a brief history of the Thanhouser film enterprise and introduce the films. “These three films chronicle the rapid advances in cinematic style, technique, and story development during the early years of the movie industry,” Thanhouser said from his home in Portland, Oregon.
Of the over 1,000 films produced by Thanhouser, only 187 prints have been found and most have been preserved. New Thanhouser films are discovered each year with over a dozen Thanhouser nitrate films currently awaiting preservation. 
Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established for the research, preservation and publication of educational materials related to early silent era, with a specific focus on Thanhouser. 
Additional information on Thanhouser can be found at www.thanhouser.org; information on the Silent Movie Theatre can be found at http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/, or by calling the box office at 1-323-655-2520.
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