Hamilton Books
Pages: 190
•
Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-0-7618-5994-9 • Hardback • April 2013 • $77.00 • (£59.00)
978-0-7618-5995-6 • Paperback • April 2013 • $35.99 • (£30.00)
978-0-7618-5996-3 • eBook • April 2013 • $34.00 • (£25.00)
Subjects: Performing Arts / Film / General,
History / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV),
Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism
Blair Miller has had a lifelong interest in silent film comedies. His previous book, American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons, Studios and Terminology (1995), is considered a reference in the field. He currently lives in Rochester, New York.
List of Figures
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Timeline
Chapter 1: Mayor Bowden, Politics and the Movie Industry
Chapter 2: Kalem Company, Inc.
Chapter 3: Lubin Motion Picture Company
Chapter 4: Vim Comedy Company
Chapter 5: Amber Star Company and the Eastern Film Company
Chapter 6: King-Bee Film Corporation
Chapter 7: Eagle Film Company
Chapter 8: Thanhouser Company
Chapter 9: Klever Pictures, Inc.
Chapter 10: Klutho Studios
Chapter 11: Other Studios
Chapter 12: What Happened to the Dream of Making Jacksonville into what Hollywood, California Ultimately Became?
Bibliography
Index
What caused this abrupt reversal of fortune forcing the film industry out of Jacksonville and into Hollywood? To answer this question, Blair Miller has resurrected the forgotten story of the rise and fall of the motion picture industry in Jacksonville. He provides us with a compelling view into the intriguing political climate, social issues, and global events that contributed to Jacksonville’s meteoric rise and fall that took place in just a few short years. Through painstaking research, compilation of contemporary news articles, and personal research in Jacksonville’s archives, he reveals this story by recounting the history of a dozen or so studios, including Thanhouser, which bet on Jacksonville as the next mecca for filmmaking, while weaving through it the political maneuverings of civic leaders who forfeited Jacksonville’s chance at becoming what we know today as Hollywood.
— Ned Thanhouser, president, Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.