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1890
Thomas Edison's assistant, W.K.L. Dickson, begins devoting himself to the "motion picture project". He and his staff develop a horizontal-feed motion picture camera. -
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1899
Vaudeville theatres establish permanent relations with motion picture exhibition services. Biograph introduces a new tripod head that allows quick, smooth panning of the camera. Although the vast majority of films still consist of a single shot, a few multi-shot films begin to be included in the catalogues of film companies. At the National Export Exposition in Philadelphia, Sigmund (or "Siegmund") Lubin constructs the first purpose-built movie theater. In Paris, Ms. Alice Guy is named head of -
1909
The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) is formed and becomes a holding company for all of the patents belonging to the film producers who are members. (It is also known as the "Edison Trust".) Members of this Trust, which include all of the major film producers of the time including Pathè, Edison and Biograph, agree to share their various machine and film patents, and to keep all other parties and machines out of the film business. They enforce this by agreeing not to sell or lease to any exc -
1910
The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), referred to as the "Edison Trust", which only allows its own members access to cameras and projectors that use its patents, sets up its own film exchange. This distribution company, The General Film Company, attempts to counter the flood of films being produced by the "independents". The noninflammable film stock that had been released by Eastman Kodak in 1909 proves to be so unsatisfactory that commercial film producers go back to using the original, -
1919
In Hollywood fifteen cameramen found "The American Society of Cinematographers". Feeling that distributors are taking too much of their money, D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks join forces and form their own distributing company called "United Artists Corporation". Each will produce their own films that will then be distributed by this new joint enterprise. -
1920
The theater chain, Loew's Incorporated, takes over Metro Pictures Corporation. Louis B. Mayer sets up Louis B. Mayer Productions Incorporated in New York. Mary Pickford marries Douglas Fairbanks. D.W. Griffith sells shares in the new “D.W. Griffith Corporation” in order to finance his new studios at Mamaroneck NY. Due to a lack of overseas markets, American motion picture production is reduced by 50%, putting 5,000 out of work. The American inventor, Lee de Forest perfects an optical soundt -
1929
In Germany, UFa begins building Europe's most modern sound–film studios. Bringing together the Radio Corporation of American, the Keith Orpheum theater chain, and American Pathè, a new motion picture company is founded. Radio–Keith–Orpheum, or RKO, has chosen as its logo a giant radio tower perched atop the world, to reinforce the idea that its birth coincided with the coming of sound. Their banner reads, “It's RKO – Let's Go”. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives out its firs -
1930
The “Depression” causes movie attendance to drop dramatically. Movie theaters lower ticket prices, give away door prizes, offer matinees and midnight screenings, and finally start adding a second, “B”, feature film to their programs in an effort to increase attendance. Some theaters even promote “Mickey Mouse Clubs” as a gimmick to draw children into the theaters on Saturdays to watch cartoons, serials and low–budget movies. Despite these tactics, many theaters go out of business. In New York, -
1939
An International Film Festival is held for the first time at the French town of Cannes. In New York City the film critic for the communist newspaper, The Daily Worker , has been dismissed because the editors thought he wasn't harsh enough in his review of “Gone With the Wind”. The paper considers the film to be an apology for slavery. RKO signs the New York actor, director and producer, Orson Welles, to a film contract. His contract allows him to work as a producer, director, actor and scriptw -
1940
In the United States there are 17,500 movie theaters in operation, one for every 8,000 people. Out of a total U.S. population of 130 million, it is estimated that 55–60 million Americans go to the movies every week. As more and more families move to the edges of the urban areas and become commuters, the Motion Picture Herald reports, “a substantial part of the future of motion picture exhibition lies in the suburbs.” In response to the government's antitrust campaign against Hollywood 's movie -
1949
Harry Warner declares that Warner Bros. will introduce television production at its Burbank studios as soon as the FCC approves the studio's purchase of the Thackery television stations in Los Angeles. The government, however, puts a moratorium on the licensing of TV stations that is not lifted until 1952, and Thackery TV pulls out of the deal. Paramount signs the antitrust agreement aimed at separating production and distribution. The company agrees to hand over its cinema network of 1,450 the -
1950
During a reception in his honor, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the president of the Screen Director's Guild, violently denounces the current policy of “blacklisting”, as well as Cecil B. DeMille's demand that members of the Screen Directors' Guild swear an oath of loyalty. Both Gene Autry and Groucho Marx have signed to do television series. RKO has yielded to the U.S. Department of Justice and formed a separate company to manage its cinemas. The U.S. now has 11,300 traditional movie theaters, and 4, -
1960
The Screen Writers Guild has called for a strike. It is demanding that its members receive a percentage of the television rights for films. The “King of Hollywood”, Clark Gable, has died at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack. Gable had just finished filming John Huston's film “The Misfits”, and had recently learned that his wife, Kay Spreckels, was pregnant and that he would be a father for the first time. Universal–International, and Columbia Pictures, have defeated the government's