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Introduction
Films were first introduced to the American public through Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope. Films were very short, and the main attraction was the novelty of the moving image. Edison’s later invention, a projector called the Vitascope, would come to replace the Kinetoscope, establishing projection as the dominant viewing format. While movies began as one novelty out of many, the advent of projection solidified them as a dominant form of entertainment. -
The First Movie Theaters
In October 1896, Edisonia Hall opened in Buffalo, NY. While film screenings had already begun in the U.S., Edisonia Hall is purported to be the first building constructed for use as a movie theater. It was part of a circuit of novelty attractions owned by Mitchell and Moe Mark. In 1914, the Mark brothers opened the Strand Theater in New York, which was credited with elevating film from a working-class pastime to a respectable medium of entertainment. -
The Great Train Robbery
Released in 1903, “The Great Train Robbery” was one of the most successful silent films ever. It tells the story of a gang of bandits after a successful train heist fleeing the scene of their crime. It was filmed in New Jersey at the Edison Studios and led to a rise in popularity in motion pictures. It introduced new cinematic and storytelling techniques that raised the standard for the motion pictures that followed it. -
The Birthplace of American Cinema
Fort Lee, New Jersey, was an early 20th-century film hub, thanks to its ideal locale and proximity to New York's financiers. Home to pioneering studios like Kalem, founded in 1907, it birthed innovations like on-location shooting. Kalem's "From the Manger to the Cross" demonstrated the power of feature films. However, legal challenges and the search for cheaper venues led to the industry's westward shift to Hollywood, despite Fort Lee's foundational role in shaping cinematic history. -
Chicago Board of Censors
In 1907, Chicago became the first American city to create a dedicated system for the censorship of film. Censorship was originally overseen by the police, but control was quickly shifted to civilian hands. Among politically relevant groups, film censorship was quite popular, as, according to film Professor Harris Ross, they felt that “intemperate movies might undermine not only morality but also the uneasy relations among Chicago's ethnic and economic groups”(19). -
The Birth of a Nation
"The Birth of a Nation," Hollywood's most racist film, portrays the post-Civil War South, vilifies African Americans, and idolizes the KKK. Despite its troubling content, it's a pioneering work, grossing over $340M adjusted for inflation. It stirred racial tensions, revived the KKK after a long period of decline and bolstered segregationist policies. Sparking protests and racial discourse, its cultural impact demonstrates cinema's powerful role in shaping society. -
Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio
Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio was a supreme court case decided in 1915 which declared that movies were a business, not art, and thus were not afforded any protections under the First Amendment. This upheld the authority of censorship boards like the one in Chicago, and would not be overturned until 1952 in the decision in Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson. By 1952, Hollywood Studios had an internal production code to avoid censorship which lasted until 1968. -