It was on this day, August 31, 1897, that Thomas Edison received his patent for his Kinescope Camera!
Using celluloid film, invented by George Eastman just eight years earlier, a film made using Edison’s new Camera was projected for viewing by being threaded on rollers.
Viewers would watch a very short film by looking through a small lens on top of Edison’s Kinetoscope.
And Hollywood was born!
Well, maybe not quite at that moment.
To ensure the success of his films, Edison formed an alliance with other industry patent holders to quash competition. Called the Motion Picture Patents Company, the group inundated independent filmmakers with copyright infringement lawsuits to ensure Edison’s iron grip over the industry.
Because Edison’s operations were based on the East Coast, his sphere of influence was weaker in Western states such as California. This led independent filmmakers to seek refuge out West, and many settled in a newly incorporated neighborhood of Los Angeles called . . . Hollywood.
Edison’s legal team, however, continued to hound West Coast producers until the 1915 Supreme Court ruled that Edison could no longer use his patents to impede or disable rival moviemakers. With Edison’s monopoly finally busted, the film industry began to thrive in its new Hollywood home.
It didn’t take long for a young, handsome, dark-haired troubadour with an forelock of hair dangling over his forehead and a snarling lip sneer by the name of Ellis Wesley turn to acting and releasing a score of early Hit Films including ~~~
“Jailhouse Thief of Bagdad Rock!”
“Wizard of Blue Hawaii!”
“Flapper Girls! Girls! Girls!”
“Viva Monte Cristo”
“All Quiet on the Speedway Front”
Classics all!
Pass me the Giant Size Popcorn, please!
CB ( which stands for “Cinema Boy”! )
