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42-457: Louis Weiss (December 21, 1890 – December 14, 1963, Los Angeles) was an American independent producer of low-budget comedies, westerns, serials, and exploitation films. Louis Weiss was born in New York City and left school after third grade (elementary school), according to the 1940 US census. In 1907 he established a nickelodeon theater , launching a lifelong enthusiasm for motion pictures. In

84-415: A "sound" reissue of the 1925 reel Scrooge with synchronized music—and would acquire the already completed films of other shoestring producers. The Weiss Brothers' fortunes took an upturn when they entered the field of adventure serials in 1935. Under the corporate name of Stage and Screen Productions, the brothers announced three promising cliffhangers: Custer's Last Stand (relying heavily on footage from

126-710: A 1907 article published in The Saturday Evening Post : Other 1907 films also distributed to nickelodeons by the Miles Brothers: Though strong throughout the years from 1905 to 1913, nickelodeons became victims of their own success as attendance grew rapidly, necessitating larger auditoriums. Nickelodeons further declined with the advent of the feature film , and as cities grew and industry consolidation led to larger, more comfortable, better-appointed movie theaters. Longer films caused ticket prices to double from five cents to ten cents. Although their heyday

168-470: A few advertisements and surviving prints. Though most Poverty Row producers averaged a six-reel length, or about 60 minutes, Weiss continually tried to pare that down to five reels, lasting just over 50 minutes. Like other smaller studios, the Weiss Brothers tried to compete with big-studio movies whenever possible. One favorite ploy was making films based on popular fictional characters. An early success

210-461: A large part in stimulating, also led to the development of intertitles , which appeared in 1903 and helped make actions and scenes clearer as storylines became more complicated. A side-effect of this change was that it minimized the role of exhibitors, since they no longer had the editorial control of organizing single-shot films into programs, and now their narrative responsibility (some exhibitors would talk and help explain narratives as they unfolded)

252-554: A roofed-over theater, the latter indirectly by way of the Odéon in Paris, emblematic of a very large and luxurious theater, much as the Ritz was of a grand hotel. The earliest films had been shown in "peep show" machines or projected in vaudeville theaters as one of the otherwise live acts. Nickelodeons drastically altered film exhibition practices and the leisure-time habits of a large segment of

294-438: A roping artist and trick rider for her father's circus and wild west show . In 1929, she performed in vaudeville, performing "in a novelty offering including singing and dancing" and heading a Rodeo Revue show. The Rodeo Revue had a cast of 35, featuring comedian Jed Dooley and including Toby Tobias and his orchestra and an eight-woman ballet group in addition to Mix and her horse, Lindy. Her father's show went bankrupt by

336-671: A second one, The Family Theatre soon after. In 1907, Louis B. Mayer renovated the Gem Theater in Haverhill, Massachusetts , converting it into a nickelodeon, which he opened as the Orpheum Theater, announcing that it would be "the home of refined entertainment devoted to Miles Brothers moving pictures and illustrated songs ". Other well-known nickelodeon owners were the Skouras Brothers of St. Louis. Nickelodeons radically changed

378-477: A series of shorts. These films were all released to theaters under the Artclass trademark ("The Sign of a Good Picture"). The Weiss Brothers' advancing progress of the late 1920s came to a screeching halt with the coming of sound to motion pictures, and the stock market crash of 1929. The silent Weiss product had been cheap to begin with—much of it photographed outdoors to avoid building sets—and sound would only add to

420-473: A small storefront theater with the name on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Although it was not the first theater to show films, a 1919 news article claimed that it was the first theater in the world "devoted exclusively to exhibition of moving picture spectacles". Davis and Harris found such great success with their operation that their concept of a five-cent theater showing movies continuously

462-494: A trend that culminated in the lavish " movie palaces " of the 1920s. Film historian Charles Musser wrote: "It is not too much to say that modern cinema began with the nickelodeons." The name "Nickelodeon" was first used in 1888 by Colonel William Austin for his Austin's Nickelodeon , a dime museum located in Boston , Massachusetts . The term was popularized by Harry Davis and John P. Harris . On June 19, 1905, they opened

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504-525: A variety of short films. Directors had a great desire to make longer films, because it meant greater artistic innovation as they tried to find new ways to engage audiences. The popularity of longer films also meant an increase in production of fictional films as actualities decreased. One of the possible reasons for this shift is that fiction films were often easier to plan and cheaper to film than actualities, which were subject to various location-related difficulties. Fiction films quickly became standardized, and

546-479: The 1920s he joined with his brothers Adolph and Max to form the Weiss Brothers production company, with money earned from a New York lamp-and-fixture store, phonograph sales, and ownership of a theater that developed into a small chain. Most of the Weiss productions were never reviewed or copyrighted, apparently deliberately avoiding press attention. The only record of their existence is found in an occasional release chart,

588-506: The American public. Although they were characterized by continuous performances of a selection of short films, added attractions such as illustrated songs were sometimes an important feature. Regarded as disreputable and dangerous by some civic groups and municipal agencies, crude, ill-ventilated nickelodeons with hard wooden seats were outmoded as longer films became common and larger, more comfortably furnished motion-picture theaters were built,

630-431: The Weiss Brothers' silent Custer's Last Fight ), The Clutching Hand , and The Black Coin . The Custer serial attracted the most attention, being the brothers' initial serial effort, but all three serials did well on the independent market. The first three chapters of Custer's Last Stand were combined into a feature film as well. Film archivist Kit Parker, who handles the Weiss Brothers library for home video, notes that

672-409: The Weiss Brothers. They added new short-subject series with comic characters Hairbreadth Harry (played by Earl Montgomery); Winnie Winkle (played by Ethelyn Gibson); and Izzie and Lizzie (played by Georgie Chapman and Bess True). In May 1926 Weiss signed former Hal Roach star Snub Pollard for a series of short comedies. These started as solo vehicles for Pollard, but soon devolved into imitations of

714-703: The Weiss salary scale for these serials was incredibly low: female lead Ruth Mix was paid only $ 3.75 per day. When Columbia Pictures decided to enter the serial field in 1937, the studio found it quicker and easier to hire a serial unit that was already functioning. Thus the Weiss Brothers found themselves now making serials for Columbia release. That year's three Weiss serials were Jungle Menace starring big-game hunter Frank Buck ; The Mysterious Pilot with flying ace Frank Hawks ; and The Secret of Treasure Island with Columbia's action star Don Terry . The Weiss serials were very successful, attracting more than

756-550: The action was taken from Fraser's 1927 Artclass silent serial Perils of the Jungle , and the new footage with Ray Corrigan (playing both the leading role and the white gorilla) was filmed in four days on a standing jungle set. The White Gorilla , as Fraser recalled in his memoirs, "played in movie theaters across the country, making a bundle for several years, for the Louis Weiss company and for Harry Fraser, who got his cut regularly. It

798-634: The central attraction. They did not have to worry about finding new audiences because the same audience would return again and again to watch different films. Exhibition practices greatly varied and programs lasted anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half or more in length. Often, programs ran continuously and patrons would join a program already in progress when they arrived and stay as long as they liked. While some nickelodeons only showed films, others offered shows that combined films with vaudeville acts or illustrated songs. The desirability of longer films, which enabled nickelodeons to grow as they would,

840-522: The early TV series Craig Kennedy, Criminologist , starring veteran screen actor Donald Woods . The Weiss company discontinued further production and managed its film library for the rest of its existence. In 1971 Adrian Weiss and his son Steven reorganized the company as Weiss Global Enterprises, handling its own productions as well as the independent features of Robert L. Lippert and the British-based library of Exclusive Films. The appeal of these films

882-669: The end of the 1930s, during the Great Depression . In 1939, she was part of the Wild West Show at the New York World's Fair, and in 1941 she, along with Howard Cragg and B. H. Jones, headed a rodeo show that appeared at fairs. On June 9, 1930, Mix married actor Douglas Gilmore in Yuma, Arizona. They separated in July 1931, with Mix planning to go to court to seek an annulment. The annulment

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924-603: The expense. Louis Weiss, not having access to any soundstages in Hollywood, made a deal with Lee de Forest to make talking short subjects at de Forest's small Phonofilm studio in New York. Three were completed (including two Snub Pollard comedies, without Loback) when much of the brothers' producing capital was wiped out by Wall Street. The Weiss Brothers suspended production indefinitely and canceled all contracts. Now they could only afford to release occasional films themselves—including

966-468: The larger movie theaters were set up there. Neighborhood nickelodeons, which were the majority of movie theaters in Manhattan, were almost always located in neighborhoods with high residential densities and spread over a substantial number of blocks. Nickelodeons usually showed films about ten to fifteen minutes in length, and in a variety of styles and subjects, such as short narratives, "scenics" (views of

1008-537: The mid-1920s she starred in several silent films . She made a total of twelve westerns, particularly The Tonto Kid , Fighting Pioneers , Saddle Aces and Gunfire , all made in 1935. In 1936 she starred in three cliffhanger serials, The Black Coin , The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand , and Custer's Last Stand . She played the female lead in a few B-westerns, starring alongside Wally Walls and Hoot Gibson . Mix retired from acting, becoming

1050-500: The middle-class stayed away until after World War I. This idea was reflected in Lewis Jacobs ' 1939 survey, where he wrote: "concentrated largely in poorer shopping districts and slum neighborhoods, nickelodeons were disdained by the well-to-do. But, the workmen and their families who patronized the movies did not mind the crowded, unsanitary, and hazardous accommodations most of the nickelodeons offered." More recent historians argue

1092-447: The modes of distribution and the types of films being made. Around 1903, longer multi-shot films became more prevalent, and this shift brought about important innovations in the distribution of films with the establishment of film exchanges . Film exchanges would buy films from manufacturers and then rent them out to exhibitors. With a steady supply of different films, exhibitors finally had the possibility to open venues, where films were

1134-411: The popularity of longer films meant they outperformed actualities, which were usually short. Early writers on American cinema history assumed that audiences at nickelodeons were primarily working-class people who could not afford a higher ticket price. At the heart of the image of nickelodeons in traditional histories is the belief that movies were a simple amusement for the working class, and that

1176-604: The request until someone was appointed guardian of her estate and said she would have to become a "boarding pupil" rather than a "day school pupil". By January 1929, her monthly allowance had been increased to $ 225, but her spending led a judge to chastise her when a debt-collection agency attached an allowance check after she ran up a $ 1,000 hotel bill in New York. The judge admonished her to "try to be more modest about her ways of living." The monthly allocation ended via another court ruling in 1930 after she married. Mix started her acting career following in her father's footsteps. In

1218-580: The rise of the middle class audiences throughout the nickelodeon era and into the later 1910s belief to expand the business. In 1985, Robert C. Allen debated whether movies attracted a middle-class audience as illustrated by the location of earlier movie theaters in traditional entertainment districts, where more nickelodeons were located in or near middle-class neighborhoods than in the Lower East Side ghetto. The nickelodeon boom in Manhattan between 1905 and 1907 often functioned as historical shorthand for

1260-562: The rise of the movies in general. In 2004, Ben Singer wrote in his analysis of Manhattan nickelodeons; "for most people ... the image of cramped, dingy nickelodeons in Manhattan's Lower East Side ghetto stands as a symbol for the cinema's emergence in America." Nickelodeons consistently appeared in the densest areas of the city in terms of residential concentration and the amount of pedestrian traffic. Areas such as Union Square , Herald Square , 23rd Street, and 125th Street were typical locations and

1302-533: The screen hung on the back wall. A piano (and maybe a drum set) would be placed to the side of, or below the screen. Larger nickelodeons sometimes had the capacity for well over 1,000 people. In 1905, William Fox started his first nickelodeon in Brooklyn . He owned numerous theaters in New York and New Jersey . In 1906, Carl Laemmle opened his first nickelodeon, The White Front on Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago) and

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1344-559: The then-new comedy team of Laurel and Hardy , with Pollard in the sad-faced Laurel role and Marvin Loback as an approximation of Hardy; Pollard was always billed as the solo star. The Pollard shorts, although filmed on low budgets, were popular enough to continue into 1929, and they boosted the Weiss Brothers' standing among comedy producers. Weiss then signed a major star, the cross-eyed Mack Sennett comic Ben Turpin , to star in two-reel comedies; then hired circus acrobat Poodles Hanneford for

1386-516: The typical number of juvenile audiences for their 15 weekly chapters, and establishing Columbia as a worthy competitor in the serial field. Columbia then took over serial production itself, where it would remain active through the death of the form in 1956. The Weiss Brothers returned to the lower ranks of independent productions. Through the 1940s and into the 1950s, Louis Weiss and his son Adrian Weiss specialized in exploitation fare: cheap thrills for undemanding audiences. Their usual choice of director

1428-556: The world from moving trains), "actualities" (precursors of later documentary films ), illustrated songs, local or touring song and dance acts, comedies , melodramas , problem plays , stop-action sequences , sporting events and other features which allowed them to compete with vaudeville houses. The titles of a few of the films released in 1907 and distributed to nickelodeons by the Miles Brothers (Herbert, Harry and Earl C.) partially illustrate this diversity. These are taken from

1470-421: Was The Adventures of Tarzan (1921), a 15-chapter serial notable for casting the original screen Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln . In 1925 Weiss released a series of one-reel adaptations of famous literary works, including The Scarlet Letter , Macbeth , A Tale of Two Cities , Vanity Fair , Oliver Twist (as Fagin ), and A Christmas Carol (as Scrooge ). The mid-1920s marked a period of ambition and expansion for

1512-415: Was Harry Fraser , a silent-era veteran who was noted for making his films look more elaborate than their low budgets allowed. Louis Weiss urgently needed a first-run "gorilla picture" when theaters couldn't get many new films, owing to a shortage of film stock. Fraser wrote and directed The White Gorilla (1945), which he frankly admitted was pure hokum. True to the Weiss tradition of cutting costs, half of

1554-465: Was a stinker of a picture, but it made money, Which only goes to prove that P. T. Barnum was right." The film was Louis Weiss's final theatrical feature. Adrian Weiss continued as an independent producer. The Weiss production company was among the first to make its film library available to television; its silent comedies were first revived in 1947. Returning to their story property from the 1934 serial The Clutching Hand , Louis and Adrian Weiss produced

1596-522: Was also minimized by this "internal narration" in the film. Ruth Mix Nadine Ruth Mix or Ruth Jane Mix (July 13, 1912 – September 21, 1977) was an actress . Mix was born in Dewey, Oklahoma , to Tom and Olive Stokes Mix . She had a half-sister, Thomasina Mix. After they divorced, when Mix was 15, her mother asked a Los Angeles court to order that the girl's allowance be increased from $ 50 per month to $ 1,500 per month. The judge denied

1638-406: Was comparatively limited but Weiss's broadcast fees were also comparatively low, making the films feasible for budget-restricted UHF TV stations. Archivist Kit Parker, after extensive negotiations with the Weiss family, bought the film library in 2004. Nickelodeon theater "Nickelodeon" was concocted from nickel , the name of the U.S. five-cent coin, and the ancient Greek word odeion ,

1680-454: Was relatively brief, nickelodeons played an important part in creating a specialized spectator, "the moviegoer", who could now integrate going to the movies into their life in a way that was impossible before. Miriam Hansen has noted that the term "spectator" had become common by 1910. The nickelodeon explosion also increased the demand for new films, as thousands of theaters needed new product. The growth of longer films, which nickelodeons played

1722-502: Was soon imitated by hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs, as was the name of the theater itself. Statistics at the time show that the number of nickelodeons in the United States doubled between 1907 and 1908 to around 8,000, and it was estimated that by 1910 as many as 26 million Americans visited these theaters weekly. Nickelodeons in converted storefronts typically seated fewer than 200 – the patrons often sat on hard wooden chairs, with

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1764-546: Was the result of many factors. Economic competition between film production companies put pressure on them to create more elaborate, and often longer, films, to differentiate one film from another. Longer films were also more attractive, as the price paid by exhibitors depended on a film's length and the longer a film, the more profit there was to be made. Some exhibitors found longer films more desirable since it made programming easier, faster, and possibly cheaper, as they no longer had to organize their own programs by editing together

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