Charles Urban was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
in 1867 but was considered one of the most significant figures in British
film history.
In 1889, Charles moved to Detroit, Michigan
and started out as a book salesman, ran a stationary shop and
then became a phonograph salesman. By 1895, he was managing
a Kinetoscope and phonograph parlour in Detroit. In 1896, he
obtained a license for the Edison Vitascope projector for Michigan.
Urban had found problems exhibiting
Edison's Vitascope projector. Many towns didn't have stable
electrical current and the Vitascope could only show fifty foot
rolls before the film had to be changed, causing delays in the
program. Urban made some adjustments and created a more stable
projector that he called the Bioscope.
Urban came to London in 1897 as manager
of the office of English branch of the US firm of Maguire & Baucus,
who were agents for the Edison Company in England. He brought with him his
Bioscope projector.
In 1898, Charles reorganized
Maguire & Baucus and changed the name to Warwick Trading
Company where he marketed his own projector to great success.
He began distributing for the Lumiere Brothers, George Melies
and G. A. Smith, a local photographer who created his own camera
and was making "actuality" films . Charles was fascinated
and gave Smith a 2 year contract to provide local films. Charles
sent cameramen all over the world to acquire footage. He also
tried his hand at film production hiring Cecil
Hepworth as his cameraman. Warwick Trading Company became
known for its travel and war films
In 1903, he founded his own company, the
Charles Urban Trading Company located at 48 Rupert Street in Westminster.
Charles was a big advocate of
educational films. He sent cameramen around the world making
news and educational films.
In 1904, Charles introduced
the "Urbanora" educational programs, and in 1905,
he bought 89-91 Wardour Street and named it Urbanora House,
the first film business to locate on Wardour Street. Here he
made all types of films, but he continued to favor educational
and documentary films.
In 1906, G. A. Smith developed and patented
the first commercial cinematographic color process, he called Kinemacolour.
He turned to his friend and support to distribute Urban to distribute the
new 2 color films which became emmensely popular until the war.
In 1907, Charles became a British citizen
and was even depicted in a 1912 Vanity Fair cartoon as the essence of the
well-dressed English gentleman.
In
1909, Charles founded the Natural Color Kinematograph Company
to showcase G. A. Smith's invention of Kinemacolor. Smith gave
Urban a 5 year exclusive on distribution of his colour films.
In 1910, Charles also opened the Eclipse
Company in France for distribution,
Charles acquired the Weir House
to try to expand; however, a court case in 1914 brought against
Urban by a rival colour system invented by William
Friese Greene resulted in the invalidation of the Kinemacolor
patent in Britain and the end of Urban's great commercial advantage.
With the war starting, Charles began making documentaries and
propaganda films for the war.
In 1916 Charles came to the United States
to promote British films. In 1917-18 he edited the American propaganda newsreel
Official War Review. Determined to reestablish himself in the United States,
he formed the Kineto Company of America, whose chief product was the cinemagazine
series Movie Chats, which was primarily pre-war Urban library film, and
co-founded the newsreel Kinograms.
Urban placed all of his faith in the growing American educational
market, but his business went bancrupt in 1924, and he retired from the
film industry, returning to Britain in 1930. His later years were spent
in obscurity, and he died in Brighton in 1942.
