In 1909, Edwin Thanhouser, former manager of the Academy of
Music Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, decided to enter the motion
picture business. At that time, New York City and Northern New
Jersey represented the center of the movie industry in America.
While
looking for a suitable location for a studio, he found a recently
vacated skating rink building, at the intersection of Warren,
Grove and Center streets in New Rochelle, which seemed to be perfect.
In 1910, the first film, The Actor's Children, was released
on March 15th. Thanhouser pictures were immediately acclaimed
for their story content, photography, the artistic quality mainly
due to his extensive experience of years of successful stage management.
The city of New Rochelle was enthusiastic about its most famous
resident, and the New Rochelle Fire Department established a policy
that as soon as an alarm was registered, a call would be made
to the Thanhouser studio, so that a film crew could be on the
scene! Similarly, the courtroom in New Rochelle was made available
to the Thanhouser people, and numerous dramas were shot there
in days in which the court was not in session.
An office was set up in London, and on a contractual basis
other agencies as far away as Australia released Thanhouser pictures.
In March 1912, Edwin sold his interest to the Mutual
Film Corporation.
Charles J. Hite, a Chicago film distributor, came to New Rochelle
and assumed management and changed the name to Thanhouser Film
Corporation.
Edwin, his wife Gertrude, and their two children departed
to take an extended "grand tour" of Europe to learn
more about the industry abroad.
On
January 13, 1913, the skating rink building burned to the ground.
Fortunately, the valuable negatives were saved, and no one was
injured. This event became the scenario for one of Thanhouser's
most notable productions, When the Studio Burned. Before long,
premises on Main Street were secured. Within the next several
years, additional structures were erected, so that by 1916 a large
complex was in place.
In August 1914 there occurred two significant events: the
first, the World War broke out in Austria, and within a short
time Edwin Thanhouser and their family found themselves in danger,
narrowly escaping on an old Italian ship.
Toward the end of the same month, Charles J. Hite, returning
from a business trip to New York City, died in a car accident.
From Hite's death through the next eight or nine months, the
Thanhouser studio was in limbo. The Mutual Film Corporation hired
Edwin back at a very attractive salary, and with enthusiasm returned
to the studio in the spring of 1915. For the next two years, a
number of very important films were released, mostly of the multiple-reel
"feature" type receiving excellent reviews.
In 1917 the film industry underwent a depression. Gradually
the Thanhouser Film Corporation phased out its activities, and
by the end of the summer of 1917, the studio had been leased to
another company, the Clara Kimball Young Film Corporation. In
robust financial condition, with a six-figure balance in the bank,
the Thanhouser Film Corporation simply closed up shop. It left
a rich legacy, amounting to over 1,000 different films.
NOTICE:
Edwin W. ("Ned") Thanhouser, grandson
of Edwin Thanhouser is president of Thanhouser Company Film Preservation,
Inc. which has taken on a monumental task in 1988 by establishing
the Thanhouser Film Preservation Trust at the Library of Congress
to fund the acquisition and preservation of nitrate-based Thanhouser
films. He is also very active in the research,
acquisition, preservation and publication of education materials
related to the early silent motion picture era.
For more information, go to http://www.thanhouser.org/
THANHOUSER COMPANY 