Kalem Company
The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem was sold to Vitagraph Studios in 1917.
Formation and history
The Kalem Company was founded by George Kleine, Samuel Long,[1] and Frank J. Marion. The company was named for their initials K, L, and M.
Kalem immediately joined other studios in the
Olcott leadership
Under the direction of Sidney Olcott, Kalem made a number of significant films, including the first adaptation of
The one-reel version of Ben Hur – in which
In 1910 the company shot a film in
Olcott and others from the studio -
, one of the first American three-reels (40 minutes). 22 films in total for Kalem. Later on, the outbreak of World War I prevented Olcott, who had resigned from Kalem and shot films for himself, from following through with his plans to build a permanent studio in Beaufort, County Kerry.Galvanized by the success of Irish films, Frank J. Marion decides on a more ambitious expedition: send a crew to Egypt and Palestine to shoot films, about thirty or so. Company stayed in Luxor, shot melodramas with titles such as An Arabian Tragedy, Captured by Bedouins, Tragedy of the Desert, A Prisoner of the Harem and documentaries the pulsing life on the Nile.
But the great ambition of Kalem's expedition is the shooting of the first five-reel film. Titled From the Manger to the Cross, it told the life story of Jesus. According to Turner Classic Movies, it is considered the most important silent film to deal with the life of Christ. In 1998 the film was selected for the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress.
Kalem was also one of the first studios to regularly film year-round by setting up facilities in
Expansion
In the fall of 1910, Kalem began organizing other studio locations. In November 1910, William Wright, company treasurer, was sent to the West Coast to assess the feasibility of a permanent studio for the making of Western style films. Wright saw the potential and after given the go-ahead from head office he acquired a property in Verdugo Canyon in Glendale and a permanent crew was dispatched from New York City. Headed by director Kenean Buel, his crew consisted of star actress Alice Joyce, George Melford, Jane Wolfe, Frank Lanning, Howard Oswald, Frank Brady, Knute Rahmn, Francelia Billington and Daisy Smith.
With films from the Western genre much in demand, in 1911, a second California studio was opened in
In December 1912, after successful "air tests", Kalem sent a troupe of players and a crew headed by McGowan to Birmingham, Alabama where the Lubin Manufacturing Company had briefly begun producing films. They took over lodgings and an outdoor stage at the Bluff Park Hotel on Shades Mountain south of the city.[6]
Kalem operated in Glendale and Santa Monica until October 1913 when they took over the Essanay Studios property at 1425 Fleming Street (now, Hoover Street) in the east Hollywood.
Notable serials
In November 1914, Kalem released the first of 119 episodes of the
On the heels of the immediate success of The Hazards of Helen, Kalem Studios simultaneously produced another 16-episode action/adventure series they released in October 1915 called The Ventures of Marguerite starring Marguerite Courtot.
Final changes
In the fall of 1912, Sidney Olcott resigned to work for independent companies.
Notable figures of Kalem
- Frank J. Marion
- Samuel S. Long
- George Kleine
- Sidney Olcott
- Robert G. Vignola
- Joe Santley
- Gene Gauntier
- Jack J. Clark
- Arthur Donaldson
- J.P. McGowan
- George K. Hollister
- Alice Hollister
- George Melford
- Kenean Buel
- Allen Farnham
- Alice Joyce
- Miriam Cooper
- Carlyle Blackwell
- Marshall Neilan
- Helen Holmes
- Agnes Mapes
- Ruth Roland
- Lloyd Hamilton
- Marin Sais
References
Notes
- ^ "Samuel Long Dead. President of Kalem Company Entered Film Business 18 Years Ago". The New York Times. July 29, 1915.
- ^ Yarrow, Andrew L. "Chelsea: Where the Avante-Garde Rubs Shoulders With Old New York" The New York Times (October 16, 1987)
- ISBN 978-0-231-15947-0.
- ISBN 0060960809p.12
- ^ Sidney Olcott le premier oeil, by Michel Derrien, TIR Editions, page 18, c.2013
- ^ "Kalem Company Will Try Luck In Magic City". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Alabama. 1912-12-31. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
Further reading
- Tracy, Tony (2016) Outside the System: Gene Gauntier and the Consolidation of Early American Cinema, Film History, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 71–106
- Michel Derrien, Aux origines du cinéma irlandais: Sidney Olcott, le premier oeil, TIR 2013. ISBN 978-2-917681-20-6(in French)
Film
- Première passion, a documentary on From the Manger to the Cross, directed by Philippe Baron, France, 2009, 55 minutes, produced by Vivement lundi ! (in French)