Lubin Studios, Philadelphia (c.1911)

Lubin Studios, formally incorporated as the Lubin Manufacturing Company, was an American motion picture production company formed in 1902 and incorporated in 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Siegmund Lubin. The company was the offspring of Lubin's film equipment and film distribution and production business began in 1896. For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ... Independence Hall Philadelphia (sometimes referred to as Philly or the City of Brotherly Love) is the fifth most populous city in the United States and the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, both in area and population. ... Siegmund Lubin Siegmund Lubin (April 20, 1851 - September 11, 1923) was an American businessman and motion picture pioneer. ...

Siegmund Lubin, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, was originally an optical and photography expert in Philadelphia but who became intrigued with Thomas Edison's motion picture camera and saw the potential in selling similar such equipment as well as the making of films. Known as "Pop" Lubin, he constructed his own combined camera/projector he called a "Cineograph" and his lower price and marketing know-how brought reasonable success. In 1897 Lubin began making films for commercial release. Certain his business could prosper, the following year he rented low-cost space on the roof of a building in Philadelphia's business district. He exhibited his new equipment at the 1899 National Export Exposition in Philadelphia and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. However, for years Lubin had a running battle with Edison that saw repeated lawsuits brought against him for copyright infringement. The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many important devices. ... The Pan American Exposition was a Worlds Fair held in Buffalo, New York from May 1 through November 2, 1901. ... Aerial view of downtown Buffalo, New York Buffalo, also known as The Queen City, The Nickel City, and the City of Good Neighbors, is an American city in western New York. ... // A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ... Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owners exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. ...

The insatiable appetite of the American public for motion picture entertainment saw Lubin's film company undergo enormous growth. Aided by his son-in-law, the French-born writer and poet Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, who served as the studio's publicity manager, in 1910 Siegmund Lubin built a state of the art studio on the corner of Indiana avenue and Twentieth Street in Philadelphia that became known as "Lubinville." At the time, it was one of the most modern studios in the world, complete with a huge artificially lit stage, editing rooms, laboratories, and work shops. The facility allowed several film productions to be undertaken simultaneously. Florence Hackett was the first actress hired for the new Lubin Studios. During this years, Harry Myers was a leading actor, director and screenwriter and other pioneer actors who worked for Lubin included Alan Hale, Arthur V. Johnson, Florence Lawrence, Ethel Clayton, Gladys Brockwell, Edwin Carewe, Ormi Hawley, Rosemary Theby, and Pearl White. Hugh Antoine dArcy (March 5, 1843 – November 11, 1925) was a French-born poet and writer and a pioneer executive in the American motion picture industry. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies are made. ... Alan Hale can refer to: Alan Hale, Sr. ... Florence Lawrence (January 2, 1886 (her birth date has also been reported as 1890) - December 28, 1938) was an inventor and actress, who was referred to as The First Movie Star. ... Gladys Brockwell, born September 26, 1893 - died July 2, 1929, was an American actress. ... Pearl Fay White, born March 4, 1889 in Green Ridge, Missouri, United States - died August 4, 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy, France, was a singer and star of silent film. ...

Eventually Lubin gave up the costly fight with Thomas Edison and became part of the Motion Picture Patents Company monopoly on production and distribution. The Lubin Manufacturing Company expanded production beyond Philadelphia, with facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and then in Coronado, California run by director and actor Romaine Fielding. In 1912, Lubin purchased a 350 acre estate in Betzwood, in what was then rural countryside in the northwest outskirts of Philadelphia and converted the property into a studio and film lot. MPPC stands for Motion Picture Patents Company, also known as the Edison Trust, also known as the First Oligopoly. ... The Jacksonville skyline and the Acosta Bridge. ... Satellite image of Coronado peninsula Coronado is a city located in San Diego County, California. ... Romaine Fielding (May 22, 1867 – December 15, 1927), was a American actor screenwriter and film director. ...

However, the company's downfall came even faster than its meteoric rise. Not being as adroit as its competitors in shifting to quality feature-length films plus a disastrous fire at its main studio in June of 1914 that destroyed the negatives for a number of unreleased new films, severely hurt the business. When World War I broke out in Europe in September of that year, Lubin Studios, and other American filmmakers', lost a large source of income from these foreign sales. In 1915, the Lubin company entered into an agreement with Vitagraph Studios, Selig Polyscope Company, and Essanay Studios to form a film distribution partnership. However, the decline of the Lubin operations continued and the United States Supreme Court rulings against the monopoly of the Motion Picture Patents Company spelled the end of Lubin's business. After making more than a thousand motion pictures the corporation was forced into bankruptcy and on September 1, 1917 the Lubin Manufacturing Company closed its doors forever. World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 and bought by Warner Brothers in 1925. ... The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company founded in 1896 in Chicago, Illinois by William Selig. ... Essanay Studios was a motion picture company founded in Chicago, Illinois by George K. Spoor and Bronco Billy Anderson under the name Essanay (S and A). It produced silent films with such stars as Ben Turpin, Wallace Beery, Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... MPPC stands for Motion Picture Patents Company, also known as the Edison Trust, also known as the First Oligopoly. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

External links

• IMDb list of film productions by S. Lubin
• IMDb list of film productions by Lubin Manufacturing Company
• Professor Joseph P. Eckhardt's bio and timeline for Siegmund Lubin and his business