In
March 1912, John Freuler and Harry
Aitken created the Mutual Film Corporation to house their
satellite film studios, exchanges, and theaters. Aitken was installed
as the first president.
The
studios were Majestic
Film, Reliance Film and American Film Manufacturing Co. It
also included Western Film Exchange.
At
the same time, Aitken used Mutual to acquired Thanhouser
Films from another former Milwaukee resident.
By
1914, all branches of the Western Film Exchange had been superseded
by new Mutual exchanges. Once consolidated, Mutual also acquired
Keystone, Kay Bee, and Bison studios.
In
1915, Mutual had offices in 45 cities which in turn supplied the
films to over 7,000 theaters. They also opened branch offices
in London, Berlin, Rome, and Paris. The foreign offices were overseen
by Roy Aitken from the London headquarters.
Mutual
was the first to challenge a state censorship in Mutual Film Corp.
v. Industrial Commission of Ohio (1915)
Internal
problems soon arose however with the conviction of Griffith to
make an epic full length feature which had never been done. Griffith
held Aitkens to his promise of freedom while the heavy cost soon
threw Aitken and the board of Mutual into full battles. The board
refuse to cover the expenses of a single film that would cost
over $100,000 to make and run 120 minutes
Aitken
turned to private sources for financing. He obtained money from
friends and business acquaintances who invested in the project
when Aitken offered his personal guarantee that their money was
safe. In this fashion, Aitken raised nearly $100,000. In addition
to his reputation, Aitken's personal fortune was on the line.
With this funding, Griffith and Aitkens formed Epoch Producing
Corporation.
Furious
at the situation, the Mutual board fired Aitkens.
Aitken
accumulated a personal fortune from The Birth of a Nation. He
then organized the illustrious Triangle Pictures Corporation.
Triangle was envisioned as a prestige studio based on the producing
abilities of ace filmmakers D. W. Griffith, Thomas Ince, and Mack
Sennett. Aitken offered smaller partnerships in Triangle to Adam
Kessel and Charles Baumann, producers of the Kay Bee films.
In
one swift stroke, Aitken crippled Mutual by taking their top directors
and over half of their major film-producing companies.
Freuler
signed comedian Charlie Chaplin for a precedent-setting salary
of $10,000 per week in a desperate attempt to stabilize Mutual.
Freuler also built Chaplin a studio, Lone Star, near the American
facilities in Santa Barbara. Chaplin was indeed the "lone
star" there, and profits from the twelve comedies he made
there kept Mutual going in 1916 and 1917.
Freuler
offered Charlie Chaplin one million dollars to stay at Mutual.
Chaplin declined and moved on. Without Chaplin, Mutual's steadily
declining profits led to a complete collapse. They closed their
doors in 1918 and their films and properties were absorbed by
what would eventually become RKO film studios.
Freuler
stayed in the film business until his death in 1958 at the age
of 86. He continued to produce films but eventually turned to
operating his theaters in Milwaukee.
Here
are the Mutual
films in our database.
