transitional cinema slides they projected, the spoken word capable of Bibliography imposing a very different meaning on the image from the Balio, Tino (ed.) (1985), The American Film Industry. one that the producer may have intended. Many exhibitors Barnes, John (1976). The Beginnings of the Cinema in England. even added sound effects—horses’ hooves, revolver shots, Bordwell, David, Staiger, Janet, and Thompson, Kristin (1985), The and so forth—and spoken dialogue delivered by actors Classical Hollywood Cinema. Chanan, Michael (1980), The Dream that Kicks. standing behind the screen. Cherchi Usai, Paolo, and Codelli, Lorenzo (eds.) (1990), Before Cali- By the end of its first decade of existence, the cinema gari. had established itself as an interesting novelty, one dis- Cosandey, Roland, Gaudreault, Andre´, and Gunning, Tom (eds.) traction among many in the increasingly frenetic pace of (1992), Une invention du diable? twentieth-century life. Yet the fledgeling medium was still Elsaesser, Thomas (ed.) (1990), Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative. very much dependent upon pre-existing media for its Fell, John L. (1983), Film before Griffith. formal conventions and story-telling devices, upon some- —— (1986), Film and the Narrative Tradition. what outmoded individually-driven production methods, Gunning, Tom (1986), ‘The Cinema of Attractions’. and upon pre-existing exhibition venues such as vau- Holman, Roger (ed.) (1982), Cinema 1900–1906: An Analytic Study. deville and fairs. In its next decade, however, the cinema Low, Rachael, and Manvell, Roger (1948), The History of the British Film, 1896–1906. took major steps toward becoming the mass medium of Musser, Charles (1990), The Emergence of Cinema. the twentieth century, complete with its own formal con- —— (1991), Before the Nickelodeon. ventions, industry structure, and exhibition venues. Transitional Cinema roberta pearson Between 1907 and 1913 the organization of the film indus- average film reached a standard length of a 1000-foot reel try in the United States and Europe began to emulate and ran for about fifteen minutes, although the so-called contemporary industrial capitalist enterprises. Spe- ‘feature film’, running an hour or more, also made its first cialization increased as production, distribution, and appearance during these years. In general, the emergence exhibition became separate and distinct areas, although of the ‘cinema of narrative integration’ coincided with some producers, particularly in the United States, did the cinema’s move toward the cultural mainstream and attempt to establish oligopolistic control over the entire its establishment as the first truly mass medium. Film industry. The greater length of films, coupled with the companies responded to pressures from state and civic unrelenting demand from exhibitors for a regular organizations with internal censorship schemes and infusion of new product, required this standardization of other strategies that gained both films and film industry production practices, as well as an increased division of a degree of social respectability. labour and the codification of cinematic conventions. The industry establishment of permanent exhibition sites aided the rationalization of distribution and exhibition procedures Before the First World War, European film industries as well as maximizing profits, which put the industry on dominated the international market, with France, Italy, a more stable footing. In most countries, early cinemas and Denmark the strongest exporters. From 60 to 70 per held fairly small audiences, and profits depended upon cent of all the films imported into the United States and a rapid turnover, necessitating short programmes and Europe were French. Pathe´, the strongest of the French frequent changes of fare. This situation encouraged pro- studios, had been forced into aggressive expansion by the ducers to make short, standardized films to meet the con- relatively small domestic demand. It established offices in stant demand. This demand was enhanced through the major cities around the world, supplemented them with construction of a star system patterned after the theatrical travelling salesmen who sold films and equipment, and, model which guaranteed the steady loyalty of the newly as a result, dominated the market in countries that could emerging mass audience. support only one film company. The films of this period, often referred to as the ‘cinema US producers faced strong competition from European of narrative integration’, no longer relied upon viewers’ product within their own country for, despite the pro- extra-textual knowledge but rather employed cinematic liferation of relatively successful motion picture manu- conventions to create internally coherent narratives. The facturers during the transitional years, a high percentage 23 Pathe´ Fre`res’ glass-topped studio at Vincennes, in 1906 of films screened in the USA still originated in Europe. on distribution and exhibition rather than production, Pathe´ opened a US office in 1904, and by 1907 other foreign conceding American dominance in this area. American firms, British and Italian among them, were entering the films constituted at least half of those shown in Britain US market on a regular basis. Many of these distributed with Italian and French imports making up a substantial their product through the Kleine Optical Company, the portion of the rest. Germany, which also lacked a well- major importer of foreign films into the United States established industry of its own, was the second most during these years and a company that played a prominent profitable market for American films. In the pre-war years, role in the transition to the longer feature film. In 1907 however, American firms lacked the strength to compete French firms, particularly Pathe´, controlled the American with the powerful French and Italian industries in their market, sharing it with other European countries: of the own countries. American films were distributed outside 1,200 films released in the United States that year only Europe, but often not to the financial benefit of the pro- about 400 were domestic. The American film industry duction studios, who granted their British distributors the took note of this, and the trade press, established in this rights not only to the British Isles and some Continental year with Moving Picture World, often complained about countries but to British colonies as well. the inferior quality of the imports, criticizing films that During this period American film production took place dealt with contemporary topics for their narrative incom- mainly on the east coast, with an outpost or two in Chicago prehensibility and, worse yet, un-American morals. and some companies making occasional forays to the west Paradoxically, an earlier move to rationalize film dis- coast and even to foreign locations. New York City was the tribution had resulted in a maximization of profits, and headquarters of three of the most important American as a result US manufacturers initially concentrated on the companies: Edison had a studio in the Bronx, Vitagraph domestic market. However, during these years they began in Brooklyn, and Biograph in the heart of the Manhattan a campaign of international expansion that resulted in show-business district on Fourteenth Street. Other com- their being well placed to step into the number one pos- panies—Solax and American Pathe´ among them—had ition in 1914, when European film industries were reeling studios across the Hudson in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which from the effects of the outbreak of war. In 1907 Vitagraph also served as a prime location for many of the New York became the first of the major US firms to establish overseas based companies. The Great Train Robbery (Edison, 1903) was distribution offices, and in 1909 other American pro- only one of the many ‘Jersey’ Westerns shot in the vicinity. ducers established agencies in London, which remained So over-used were certain settings that a contemporary the European centre for American distribution until 1916. anecdote claimed that two companies once shot on either As a result the British industry tended to concentrate side of a Fort Lee fence, sharing the same gate. Chicago 24 transitional cinema served as headquarters for the Selig and Essanay studios industry. Along with Edison and Biograph, members and for George Kleine’s distribution company. Many included Vitagraph, the largest of American producers, studios sent companies to California during the winter to Selig, Essanay, Me´lie`s, Pathe´ and Kleine, the Connecticut- take advantage of the superior locations and shooting based Kalem, and the Philadelphia-based Lubin. The MPPC conditions, and Selig established a permanent studio derived its powers from pooling patents on film stock, there as early as 1909. However, Los Angeles did not cameras, and projectors, most of these owned by the become the centre of the American industry until the Edison and Biograph companies. These two had been First World War. engaged in lengthy legal disputes since Biograph was Around 1903, the rise of film exchanges led to a crucial founded, but their resolution now enabled them to claim change in distribution practices, which in turn created a the lion’s share of the Trust’s profits despite the fact that radical change in modes of exhibition. The rise of per- they were at the time the two least prolific of the American manent venues, the nickelodeons that began to appear in production studios. numbers in 1906, made the film industry a much more The members