The History of the Film Industry in Buffalo Lights,Lights, By Matthew Biddle n the middle of August 1983, the old Courier-Express Building suddenly sprang to life. It had been almost a year since the newspaper folded, but inside a relentless sportswriter was trying to Iuncover dirt about the 35-year-old rookie ball player Roy Hobbs. A week later, the Parkside neighborhood was abuzz as modern light poles were replaced with 1930s traffic signals and the block filled with period automobiles bearing Illinois license plates. Parkside became “Chicago,” All-High Stadium was now “Wrigley Field” and a “train” arrived at Central Terminal for the first time in four years – all for The Natural, the now-classic baseball movie that captivated the city for a few months that summer. Folks all over Western New York were involved in the production, including a lucky few who scored speaking roles, as well as hundreds of extras, many of whom waited in long lines for their shot on camera. The Buffalo-based Trench Man- ufacturing Co. created period pennant flags for the set, the Buffalo Swing Band played during party scenes and restaurants all over town served acclaimed stars like Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey and, of course, Robert Redford. With shooting nearly complete that September, a crowd of over 12,000 converged on the Old Rockpile, the rusted 45,000-seat stadium and site of the most filming. Wearing a baseball jacket for Hobbs’ team, the New York Knights, Redford thanked the crowd for the warm reception the cast and crew had received. A few days later, he told WGRZ reporter Scott Brown: “I like the sense of tradition that’s still left in Buffalo. There’s a feeling that you feel from the people about pride in their city – that means a lot to me.” He continued, “They really got behind us and were supportive and enthusiastic. ... The people here who helped us are very much a part of this film.” Exactly 30 years later, many still carry memories about that film and others that have captivated our city, both before and after The Natural. In the past several years, from 2011’s Henry’s Crime to 2007’s The Savages, the Queen City has seen CameraCamera ...... its share of Hollywood productions and smaller independent features. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and to truly understand our long relationship with the film industry, we need to go back to the late 19th century, when Hollywood was just a small community outside of Los Angeles and Thomas Edison first brought motion pictures to the public.
dison’s kinetoscope debuted in 1893, and while it was very profitable, only one person could watch the moving images at a time. In France, just two years later, the Lumière brothers held the first public showing of films shot with their Ecinématographe, a relatively lightweight camera that shot crisper images than ever before and could be projected onto a screen for many to view at once. Soon, on this side of the Atlantic, it would be Edison’s vitascope that launched moving pictures as major attraction in the United States – and induced Buffalo’s love affair with film. The vitascope was unveiled to the public at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall in New York City on April 23, 1896. The new projector was a huge success and was quickly booked for engagements across the country. Buffalo’s turn came on June 8, 1896, when “the latest invention of the Wizard Edison” was demonstrated at the Buffalo Public Library. “The people of Buffalo will for the first time have the opportunity of witnessing and seeing in operation the marvelous methods of repro- ducing on canvas nature, active life, movement,” reported the Buffalo Morning Express, which noted that audiences would see a seacoast scene, with waves tumbling against a pier. Action!Action! PHOTOS COURTESY OF BILL COWELL WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE
18 The History of the Film Industry in Buffalo Lights,Lights, By Matthew Biddle n the middle of August 1983, the old Courier-Express Building suddenly sprang to life. It had been almost a year since the newspaper folded, but inside a relentless sportswriter was trying to Iuncover dirt about the 35-year-old rookie ball player Roy Hobbs. A week later, the Parkside neighborhood was abuzz as modern light poles were replaced with 1930s traffic signals and the block filled with period automobiles bearing Illinois license plates. Parkside became “Chicago,” All-High Stadium was now “Wrigley Field” and a “train” arrived at Central Terminal for the first time in four years – all for The Natural, the now-classic baseball movie that captivated the city for a few months that summer. Folks all over Western New York were involved in the production, including a lucky few who scored speaking roles, as well as hundreds of extras, many of whom waited in long lines for their shot on camera. The Buffalo-based Trench Man- ufacturing Co. created period pennant flags for the set, the Buffalo Swing Band played during party scenes and restaurants all over town served acclaimed stars like Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey and, of course, Robert Redford. With shooting nearly complete that September, a crowd of over 12,000 converged on the Old Rockpile, the rusted 45,000-seat stadium and site of the most filming. Wearing a baseball jacket for Hobbs’ team, the New York Knights, Redford thanked the crowd for the warm reception the cast and crew had received. A few days later, he told WGRZ reporter Scott Brown: “I like the sense of tradition that’s still left in Buffalo. There’s a feeling that you feel from the people about pride in their city – that means a lot to me.” He continued, “They really got behind us and were supportive and enthusiastic. ... The people here who helped us are very much a part of this film.” Exactly 30 years later, many still carry memories about that film and others that have captivated our city, both before and after The Natural. In the past several years, from 2011’s Henry’s Crime to 2007’s The Savages, the Queen City has seen CameraCamera ...... its share of Hollywood productions and smaller independent features. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and to truly understand our long relationship with the film industry, we need to go back to the late 19th century, when Hollywood was just a small community outside of Los Angeles and Thomas Edison first brought motion pictures to the public.
dison’s kinetoscope debuted in 1893, and while it was very profitable, only one person could watch the moving images at a time. In France, just two years later, the Lumière brothers held the first public showing of films shot with their Ecinématographe, a relatively lightweight camera that shot crisper images than ever before and could be projected onto a screen for many to view at once. Soon, on this side of the Atlantic, it would be Edison’s vitascope that launched moving pictures as major attraction in the United States – and induced Buffalo’s love affair with film. The vitascope was unveiled to the public at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall in New York City on April 23, 1896. The new projector was a huge success and was quickly booked for engagements across the country. Buffalo’s turn came on June 8, 1896, when “the latest invention of the Wizard Edison” was demonstrated at the Buffalo Public Library. “The people of Buffalo will for the first time have the opportunity of witnessing and seeing in operation the marvelous methods of repro- ducing on canvas nature, active life, movement,” reported the Buffalo Morning Express, which noted that audiences would see a seacoast scene, with waves tumbling against a pier. Action!Action! PHOTOS COURTESY OF BILL COWELL WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE
18 on Film Rows, which in Buffalo was on or near the 200 block of Franklin Street. According to the 1922 City Directory, 15 exchanges were based on Franklin, out of 28 total “moving picture supplies” companies operating in the city. “Few people realize how important a movie center Buffalo is. As soon as a picture is released, ten copies are sent here for distribution,” the Courier-Express reported in 1941. The major Hollywood studios, several of The Ellicott Square Building has figured into every era of Buffalo film which launched between 1912 and 1915, history. In 1896, it was home to the Vitascope Theater, and about two The Pan-American Exposition, captured by A. Simon & Bro., was often invested heavily in their distributors to decades later, the short-lived Buffalo Motion Picture Corporation. For filmed extensively by the Edison Company. Many of those short films The Natural, it was used for hotel scenes. are now archived on the Library of Congress website, www.loc.gov. provide the best service, so each exchange WNY HERITAGE PRESS COLLECTION LIBRARY OF CONGRESS was unique, often lavishly decorated and well equipped. In 1918, for instance, a new Less than six months later, Mitchell H. Mark opened in Buf- At this time, movie showings featured a string of scenes with Fox Film Corporation office opened at falo what’s purported to be one of the nation’s first purpose-built no narrative thread; the order of scenes was determined by 209-211 Franklin, with a 40-by-20-foot movie theaters. The entrepreneur owned a hat shop at 77 Seneca exhibitors, not filmmakers. Niagara Falls was a popular spot for projection room for exhibitors to view films Street, but the would-be showman always had a flair for the dra- filming, as evidenced by early titles like Niagara, Upper Rapids before renting and a 2,500-square-foot poster matic; every spring and fall, he would clean house by throwing and Niagara, American Falls. In January 1901, the Edison Com- and shipping department. “New rugs, new excess hats from his roof to the crowd below. With the movie pany opened its new studios in Manhattan and had copyrighted furniture and large, stained glass windows add industry in its infancy, he went to Europe to study film and was 60 films within six months. Several Edison videographers cre- to the attractive appearance of the offices. reportedly the first American to import Pathé films, the domi- ated at least 20 films at the Pan-American Exposition that year, Eighteen oil paintings of Fox stars give a rich, nant pictures in Europe. He showed them at the Vitascope The- putting Buffalo, and the assassination of President McKinley, artistic tone to the exchange,” The Moving ater, a 12-by-50-foot theater in the basement of the newly on screen for the nation to see. A Trip Around the Pan-American Picture World reported. Almost 20 years later, constructed Ellicott Square Building, with room for 80 patrons. Exposition, for instance, was a 625-foot, ten-minute film that Twentieth Century-Fox opened a new One of the first designed specifically for films, the theater stayed took viewers around the grounds, while Pan-American exchange at 290 Franklin, which had “six opened about two years and earned $18,000 annually, as reported Exposition By Night was a feat of technical brilliance for its day. vaults, all steel double-doored, for storage of by The Moving Picture World. Sometimes referred to as Edisonia By 1911, there were about 40 production companies across the films, as well as a room for storing film cans.” Hall or the Electric Theater, it charged just ten cents for admis- country and more than 10,000 nickelodeons and theaters. Some- A 1937 article in the Courier-Express contin- sion. Miss Jerry, a picture about “the adventures of a girl one was needed to store, maintain and deliver these pictures, ush- ued: “Just off the shipping room is the inspec- reporter,” was the first showing, according to a Buffalo Evening ering in the film exchange business. In the already cutthroat film tion department, wherein eight inspectors, News article from 1944. In addition, Mark – who would later industry, fast and cheap service was paramount, so regional equipped with the most recent machinery, open several other theaters locally and elsewhere with his exchanges cropped up in 32 major cities, including Buffalo, which inspect and splice films before they are sent to brother, Moe – was lauded as “one of the first to raise the moral was responsible for everything east of Cleveland over to Bingham- an exhibitor. Wherever they are essential, standard of photoplays” and for encouraging the use of films in ton or Utica. Early exchanges were scattered throughout Buffalo’s there are sound-absorbent ceilings.” schools for educational purposes. downtown area, but by the 1920s, distribution was largely handled Film strips were then highly flammable, so exchanges needed fireproof vaults and sprinkler systems and received frequent inspections from the Buffalo Fire Depart- ment. Exchanges would either ship the movies themselves or hire an independent film shipper, which usually delivered them by truck or automobile (trains were reluctant to transport flammable nitrate film). In one JUNE 20- JULY 25- extremely unusual circumstance, in 1917, the MEASURE FOR Triangle exchange in Buffalo shipped The HAMLET JULY 14 AUG. 18 Tar Heel Warrior to Rochester by airplane MEASURE because it would have been impossible to get WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE ALL SHOWS FREE 7:30PM TUESDAYS THROUGH SUNDAYS Taken in 1925, these employees are standing it there on time any other way. Airplanes SHAKESPEARE HILL. DELAWARE PARK. BUFFALO WWW.SHAKESPEAREINDELAWAREPARK.ORG outside the Metro-Goldwyn regional distribu- would obviously become much more impor- tion headquarters, at 505-509 Pearl Street. tant in later decades. Shortly after, the company became MGM and PRESENTED BY: SPECIAL THANKS TO: the building still bears its name today. Exchanges also had advertising and ERIE WNY HERITAGE PRESS COLLECTION; poster rooms so that exhibitors could obtain COUNTY MATTHEW BIDDLE PHOTO 2013 “exploitation material” for their films. Years
20 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 21 on Film Rows, which in Buffalo was on or near the 200 block of Franklin Street. According to the 1922 City Directory, 15 exchanges were based on Franklin, out of 28 total “moving picture supplies” companies operating in the city. “Few people realize how important a movie center Buffalo is. As soon as a picture is released, ten copies are sent here for distribution,” the Courier-Express reported in 1941. The major Hollywood studios, several of The Ellicott Square Building has figured into every era of Buffalo film which launched between 1912 and 1915, history. In 1896, it was home to the Vitascope Theater, and about two The Pan-American Exposition, captured by A. Simon & Bro., was often invested heavily in their distributors to decades later, the short-lived Buffalo Motion Picture Corporation. For filmed extensively by the Edison Company. Many of those short films The Natural, it was used for hotel scenes. are now archived on the Library of Congress website, www.loc.gov. provide the best service, so each exchange WNY HERITAGE PRESS COLLECTION LIBRARY OF CONGRESS was unique, often lavishly decorated and well equipped. In 1918, for instance, a new Less than six months later, Mitchell H. Mark opened in Buf- At this time, movie showings featured a string of scenes with Fox Film Corporation office opened at falo what’s purported to be one of the nation’s first purpose-built no narrative thread; the order of scenes was determined by 209-211 Franklin, with a 40-by-20-foot movie theaters. The entrepreneur owned a hat shop at 77 Seneca exhibitors, not filmmakers. Niagara Falls was a popular spot for projection room for exhibitors to view films Street, but the would-be showman always had a flair for the dra- filming, as evidenced by early titles like Niagara, Upper Rapids before renting and a 2,500-square-foot poster matic; every spring and fall, he would clean house by throwing and Niagara, American Falls. In January 1901, the Edison Com- and shipping department. “New rugs, new excess hats from his roof to the crowd below. With the movie pany opened its new studios in Manhattan and had copyrighted furniture and large, stained glass windows add industry in its infancy, he went to Europe to study film and was 60 films within six months. Several Edison videographers cre- to the attractive appearance of the offices. reportedly the first American to import Pathé films, the domi- ated at least 20 films at the Pan-American Exposition that year, Eighteen oil paintings of Fox stars give a rich, nant pictures in Europe. He showed them at the Vitascope The- putting Buffalo, and the assassination of President McKinley, artistic tone to the exchange,” The Moving ater, a 12-by-50-foot theater in the basement of the newly on screen for the nation to see. A Trip Around the Pan-American Picture World reported. Almost 20 years later, constructed Ellicott Square Building, with room for 80 patrons. Exposition, for instance, was a 625-foot, ten-minute film that Twentieth Century-Fox opened a new One of the first designed specifically for films, the theater stayed took viewers around the grounds, while Pan-American exchange at 290 Franklin, which had “six opened about two years and earned $18,000 annually, as reported Exposition By Night was a feat of technical brilliance for its day. vaults, all steel double-doored, for storage of by The Moving Picture World. Sometimes referred to as Edisonia By 1911, there were about 40 production companies across the films, as well as a room for storing film cans.” Hall or the Electric Theater, it charged just ten cents for admis- country and more than 10,000 nickelodeons and theaters. Some- A 1937 article in the Courier-Express contin- sion. Miss Jerry, a picture about “the adventures of a girl one was needed to store, maintain and deliver these pictures, ush- ued: “Just off the shipping room is the inspec- reporter,” was the first showing, according to a Buffalo Evening ering in the film exchange business. In the already cutthroat film tion department, wherein eight inspectors, News article from 1944. In addition, Mark – who would later industry, fast and cheap service was paramount, so regional equipped with the most recent machinery, open several other theaters locally and elsewhere with his exchanges cropped up in 32 major cities, including Buffalo, which inspect and splice films before they are sent to brother, Moe – was lauded as “one of the first to raise the moral was responsible for everything east of Cleveland over to Bingham- an exhibitor. Wherever they are essential, standard of photoplays” and for encouraging the use of films in ton or Utica. Early exchanges were scattered throughout Buffalo’s there are sound-absorbent ceilings.” schools for educational purposes. downtown area, but by the 1920s, distribution was largely handled Film strips were then highly flammable, so exchanges needed fireproof vaults and sprinkler systems and received frequent inspections from the Buffalo Fire Depart- ment. Exchanges would either ship the movies themselves or hire an independent film shipper, which usually delivered them by truck or automobile (trains were reluctant to transport flammable nitrate film). In one JUNE 20- JULY 25- extremely unusual circumstance, in 1917, the MEASURE FOR Triangle exchange in Buffalo shipped The HAMLET JULY 14 AUG. 18 Tar Heel Warrior to Rochester by airplane MEASURE because it would have been impossible to get WESTERN NEWALL SHOWS FREE YORK 7:30PM TUESDAYS HERITAGE THROUGH SUNDAYS Taken in 1925, these employees are standing it there on time any other way. Airplanes SHAKESPEARE HILL. DELAWARE PARK. BUFFALO WWW.SHAKESPEAREINDELAWAREPARK.ORG outside the Metro-Goldwyn regional distribu- would obviously become much more impor- tion headquarters, at 505-509 Pearl Street. tant in later decades. Shortly after, the company became MGM and PRESENTED BY: SPECIAL THANKS TO: the building still bears its name today. Exchanges also had advertising and ERIE WNY HERITAGE PRESS COLLECTION; poster rooms so that exhibitors could obtain COUNTY MATTHEW BIDDLE PHOTO 2013 “exploitation material” for their films. Years
20 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 21 ago, film advertising was much splashier; longtime promoter Ed Miller won national awards, for instance, for parading a line of elephants up Main Street for 1956’s Alexander the Great. Big stars would often visit exchanges and theaters to plug their latest pictures. By 1935, the six-floor edifice at 505-509 Pearl Street housed a number of major studios, including Universal, MGM, United Artists and others, and thus was the site of frequent celebrity visits. Gene Autry, Jane Powell, Ruth Roman, Roddy McDowall and Academy Award-winner Charlton Heston are just a few of the screen stars who passed through. As movies became increasingly popular, more exchanges and theaters appeared in Buffalo and across the country. The Buffalo Evening News estimated that half of all Americans attended at least one movie a week in 1926. The following year, the paper reported that Buffalonians spent nearly $300,000 a week on motion pictures, meaning one in six residents went to the In 1931, the film Keep Going was the first talkie shot in Buffalo. It used all This rendering of the thrilling stunt from The Man with the Golden Gun hangs at JM Productions Inc. above the actual car shown here. Calls still local cast members, shot at several prominent locations and premiered pour in about the astounding feat, a barrel roll over a Bangkok waterway at 52 feet in the air. JM PRODUCTIONS INC. movies on any given day. With the advent of television and at the Lafayette Theatre that August. PRIVATE COLLECTION other forms of entertainment, however, the cinema’s hold on American popular culture declined. Many theaters closed Exposition films, other early shorts include Buffalo Police on plant in Cheektowaga. “The Curtiss people had painted up a roll in mid-air by an automobile that was all but stock, a breath- during the 1960s, and exchanges relocated to tighter quarters. Parade from 1899 and Lafayette Square, Buffalo, N.Y., a panoramic squadron of real P-40s with the well known tiger shark design taking corkscrew spiral that stretched human credulity to its By 1970, studios had found cheaper ways to distribute films and street scene from 1903. to be used in these scenes and the company made their test limits.” needed fewer exchanges. In the 1965 City Directory, there were In late 1917, the first Buffalo-based production company, the pilots and stunt flyers available to depict some of the precision Thirty international magazines covered the stunt, which 17 businesses listed under “distributors and exchanges.” By 1975 appropriately named Buffalo Motion Picture Corporation, flight formations for which the ‘Tigers’ were famous,” the film’s caught the attention of Bond producer Albert “Cubby” that figure shrunk to nine, and by 1985 there was just one major announced its premier film, a “drama of motherly love” called pressbook revealed. These scenes had to be sent to Washington, Broccoli, who met with Milligan in New York City to discuss studio left in Buffalo – Paramount Pictures, which closed its The Brink of Eternity (or The Price of Innocence in some sources), D.C. to ensure “no vital information could reach the enemy.” putting the feat in their next picture. JM Productions built two office inside 300 Delaware Avenue later that year. for which it filmed all outdoor scenes here and indoor scenes at Curtiss-Wright test pilot Herb Fisher subbed in for Wayne dur- stunt cars and supplied 12 stunt drivers for the production, a New York City studio. The company quickly opened an office ing the flight scenes, and William D. Pawley – the former including Milligan himself, and flew to Bangkok, Thailand, hile the city’s most high-profile movie shoot is inside the Ellicott Square Building, secured a second sales office Curtiss-Wright president who was involved in the organization for the shoot. During the scene, Roger Moore’s Bond drives arguably The Natural, local film production dates on Sixth Avenue in New York and announced the construction of the American Volunteer Group – was Wback more than 100 years. Besides the Pan-American of a local studio. It’s unclear if that studio was ever built before credited for his technical assistance. the company folded in the early 1920s, but it did release three Another exciting Buffalo film connec- A Five-Star Mom DESERVES five-reel features. The second was The Sport of Kings, an adap- tion, meanwhile, still sits in Hamburg tation of Arthur Somers Roche’s book of the same title, distrib- inside JM Productions Inc., the company Five-Star Care uted by First National Pictures. Its last film was The Daughter responsible for the demolition derby at the of Devil Dan, which filmed exteriors in North Carolina and was Erie County Fair and over 25 others. Here, s All McGuire Group released in 1921. owner Jay Milligan Sr. still proudly displays Facilities in WNY are Rated Six years later, cinemas across the country began showing The the Hornet Hatchback used in a chase Five Stars out of Five by the Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talkie. The first talkie filmed scene from the 1974 James Bond block- Federal Government locally was Keep Going, a Columbia Pictures production shot over buster, The Man with the Golden Gun. The seven days in August 1931. Directed by Joe McGuire with an ninth Bond film featured a stunt digitally s Private accommodations entirely local cast, the flick starred Frederick Kirk, who later was designed by Cornell Aeronautical Labs in are available a captain in World War II and owned Century Carloading, a Buffalo and tested and performed by JM freight company that contracted with major downtown retailers Productions (first using a Javelin and later s HOUR SKILLED NURSING AND like AM&A’s and Kleinhans Men’s Store. Among other the Hornet Hatchback for the film). Ray- rehabilitative care locations, the production was spotted filming by the Rand Build- mond McHenry and William Milliken ing; inside the Lafayette Theatre; and inside the newsroom at the from Cornell devised a stunt where the car s !BOVE AVERAGE STAFlNG LEVELS Buffalo Times. “Teletypes, tickers and typewriters were set in approached a takeoff ramp at about 40 motion while members of the cast distributed themselves before miles per hour, flew 52 feet into the air, the various desks and proceeded to the synthetic business of rolled 360 degrees and landed safely. In www.McGuireGroup.com meeting an imaginary deadline,” the Times reported. The picture January 1972, after six test jumps – three DozensWESTERN of exhibitors and distributors attended theNEW opening of the YORK HERITAGE To Be Your First & Best Choice...That’s The McGuire Mission Twentieth Century-Fox film exchange in November 1937. Located premiered on August 20, 1931, at the Lafayette in a double- unmanned, three manned – the stunt within Buffalo’s Film Row at 290 Franklin Street, it exemplified “the most billing with Arizona, starring Laura La Plante and John Wayne. debuted before a crowd of 98,000 people Autumn View s (AMBURG \ 'ARDEN 'ATE s #HEEKTOWAGA advanced ideas in construction within the business of film distribution.” It played for a week before being shipped to Hollywood over two days at the Houston Astrodome. Seated here was Buffalo manager Sydney Samson, with (from left) Harris Hill s 7ILLIAMSVILLE \ .ORTHGATE s . 4ONAWANDA \ 3ENECA s West Seneca William Sussman, eastern sales manager; Jack Sichelman, assistant producers to consider for further distribution. “A building full of Texans went berserk,” Just over ten years later, Flying Tigers, a 1942 John Wayne wrote Motor Trend magazine. “They hailed 7EST 3ENECA s to the general manager; and George Roberts, district manager. NOW ACCEPTING TRANSFERS FROM OTHER FACILITIES BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY war film, shot several flight sequences at the Curtiss-Wright his survival of an astonishing stunt, a barrel
22 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 23 ago, film advertising was much splashier; longtime promoter Ed Miller won national awards, for instance, for parading a line of elephants up Main Street for 1956’s Alexander the Great. Big stars would often visit exchanges and theaters to plug their latest pictures. By 1935, the six-floor edifice at 505-509 Pearl Street housed a number of major studios, including Universal, MGM, United Artists and others, and thus was the site of frequent celebrity visits. Gene Autry, Jane Powell, Ruth Roman, Roddy McDowall and Academy Award-winner Charlton Heston are just a few of the screen stars who passed through. As movies became increasingly popular, more exchanges and theaters appeared in Buffalo and across the country. The Buffalo Evening News estimated that half of all Americans attended at least one movie a week in 1926. The following year, the paper reported that Buffalonians spent nearly $300,000 a week on motion pictures, meaning one in six residents went to the In 1931, the film Keep Going was the first talkie shot in Buffalo. It used all This rendering of the thrilling stunt from The Man with the Golden Gun hangs at JM Productions Inc. above the actual car shown here. Calls still local cast members, shot at several prominent locations and premiered pour in about the astounding feat, a barrel roll over a Bangkok waterway at 52 feet in the air. JM PRODUCTIONS INC. movies on any given day. With the advent of television and at the Lafayette Theatre that August. PRIVATE COLLECTION other forms of entertainment, however, the cinema’s hold on American popular culture declined. Many theaters closed Exposition films, other early shorts include Buffalo Police on plant in Cheektowaga. “The Curtiss people had painted up a roll in mid-air by an automobile that was all but stock, a breath- during the 1960s, and exchanges relocated to tighter quarters. Parade from 1899 and Lafayette Square, Buffalo, N.Y., a panoramic squadron of real P-40s with the well known tiger shark design taking corkscrew spiral that stretched human credulity to its By 1970, studios had found cheaper ways to distribute films and street scene from 1903. to be used in these scenes and the company made their test limits.” needed fewer exchanges. In the 1965 City Directory, there were In late 1917, the first Buffalo-based production company, the pilots and stunt flyers available to depict some of the precision Thirty international magazines covered the stunt, which 17 businesses listed under “distributors and exchanges.” By 1975 appropriately named Buffalo Motion Picture Corporation, flight formations for which the ‘Tigers’ were famous,” the film’s caught the attention of Bond producer Albert “Cubby” that figure shrunk to nine, and by 1985 there was just one major announced its premier film, a “drama of motherly love” called pressbook revealed. These scenes had to be sent to Washington, Broccoli, who met with Milligan in New York City to discuss studio left in Buffalo – Paramount Pictures, which closed its The Brink of Eternity (or The Price of Innocence in some sources), D.C. to ensure “no vital information could reach the enemy.” putting the feat in their next picture. JM Productions built two office inside 300 Delaware Avenue later that year. for which it filmed all outdoor scenes here and indoor scenes at Curtiss-Wright test pilot Herb Fisher subbed in for Wayne dur- stunt cars and supplied 12 stunt drivers for the production, a New York City studio. The company quickly opened an office ing the flight scenes, and William D. Pawley – the former including Milligan himself, and flew to Bangkok, Thailand, hile the city’s most high-profile movie shoot is inside the Ellicott Square Building, secured a second sales office Curtiss-Wright president who was involved in the organization for the shoot. During the scene, Roger Moore’s Bond drives arguably The Natural, local film production dates on Sixth Avenue in New York and announced the construction of the American Volunteer Group – was Wback more than 100 years. Besides the Pan-American of a local studio. It’s unclear if that studio was ever built before credited for his technical assistance. the company folded in the early 1920s, but it did release three Another exciting Buffalo film connec- A Five-Star Mom DESERVES five-reel features. The second was The Sport of Kings, an adap- tion, meanwhile, still sits in Hamburg tation of Arthur Somers Roche’s book of the same title, distrib- inside JM Productions Inc., the company Five-Star Care uted by First National Pictures. Its last film was The Daughter responsible for the demolition derby at the of Devil Dan, which filmed exteriors in North Carolina and was Erie County Fair and over 25 others. Here, s All McGuire Group released in 1921. owner Jay Milligan Sr. still proudly displays Facilities in WNY are Rated Six years later, cinemas across the country began showing The the Hornet Hatchback used in a chase Five Stars out of Five by the Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talkie. The first talkie filmed scene from the 1974 James Bond block- Federal Government locally was Keep Going, a Columbia Pictures production shot over buster, The Man with the Golden Gun. The seven days in August 1931. Directed by Joe McGuire with an ninth Bond film featured a stunt digitally s Private accommodations entirely local cast, the flick starred Frederick Kirk, who later was designed by Cornell Aeronautical Labs in are available a captain in World War II and owned Century Carloading, a Buffalo and tested and performed by JM freight company that contracted with major downtown retailers Productions (first using a Javelin and later s HOUR SKILLED NURSING AND like AM&A’s and Kleinhans Men’s Store. Among other the Hornet Hatchback for the film). Ray- rehabilitative care locations, the production was spotted filming by the Rand Build- mond McHenry and William Milliken ing; inside the Lafayette Theatre; and inside the newsroom at the from Cornell devised a stunt where the car s !BOVE AVERAGE STAFlNG LEVELS Buffalo Times. “Teletypes, tickers and typewriters were set in approached a takeoff ramp at about 40 motion while members of the cast distributed themselves before miles per hour, flew 52 feet into the air, the various desks and proceeded to the synthetic business of rolled 360 degrees and landed safely. In www.McGuireGroup.com meeting an imaginary deadline,” the Times reported. The picture January 1972, after six test jumps – three Dozens of exhibitors and distributors attended the opening of the WESTERN NEWTo Be Your First YORK & Best Choice...That’s HERITAGE The McGuire Mission Twentieth Century-Fox film exchange in November 1937. Located premiered on August 20, 1931, at the Lafayette in a double- unmanned, three manned – the stunt within Buffalo’s Film Row at 290 Franklin Street, it exemplified “the most billing with Arizona, starring Laura La Plante and John Wayne. debuted before a crowd of 98,000 people Autumn View s (AMBURG \ 'ARDEN 'ATE s #HEEKTOWAGA advanced ideas in construction within the business of film distribution.” It played for a week before being shipped to Hollywood over two days at the Houston Astrodome. Seated here was Buffalo manager Sydney Samson, with (from left) Harris Hill s 7ILLIAMSVILLE \ .ORTHGATE s . 4ONAWANDA \ 3ENECA s West Seneca William Sussman, eastern sales manager; Jack Sichelman, assistant producers to consider for further distribution. “A building full of Texans went berserk,” Just over ten years later, Flying Tigers, a 1942 John Wayne wrote Motor Trend magazine. “They hailed 7EST 3ENECA s to the general manager; and George Roberts, district manager. NOW ACCEPTING TRANSFERS FROM OTHER FACILITIES BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY war film, shot several flight sequences at the Curtiss-Wright his survival of an astonishing stunt, a barrel
22 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 23 with permits and locations, and markets Natural and work ing to reunite many the region to filmmakers at festivals like of its stars in Buffalo next April. (If you Sundance and at trade shows, including have stories, photos or memorabilia from the popular AFCI Locations Show. that shoot, please contact Cowell at “Who would have ever thought we would [email protected].) be chosen to replicate Giants Stadium? Clearly, Buffalo’s brush with Holly- Who would have ever thought that Jerry wood is far from over. There are movie Bruckheimer would come here with playhouses, whether open or closed, that Disney to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean?” still characterize the cityscape and a few says Clark, who notes that something – a remaining film exchange buildings that film, commercial, music video, television still line Franklin. (D’Arcy McGee’s Irish episode or documentary – is filmed in Pub resides in the former Warner Bros. Buffalo almost every day. building, for instance.) We also continu- Meanwhile, the Buffalo Niagara Film ally roll out the welcome mat for films Festival has steadily made a name for and their producers. For The Natural, the INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP Thankfully, Buffalo’s relationship with the film industry is not just history. In late May, Universal itself on the festival circuit since being Bisons sent a limo and police escort to Pictures filmed a key scene for The Best Man Holiday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Meanwhile, founded in 2007. It receives submissions pick up production designer Mel Bourne the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival has grown steadily as a launch pad for movies. Shown here, from across the country and all over the at the airport during his initial location Cheektowaga-native William Fichtner (from this summer’s The Lone Ranger) received the first star world. In 2013, for example, films shown scouting trip. There are plenty of reasons George W. Laub & Assoc., LLC on the BNFF Walk of Fame in 2011. MATTHEW BIDDLE PHOTO 2013; COURTESY BILL COWELL hailed from the U.S., Switzerland, the why Buffalo has enjoyed such a long rela- 424 Main St., Liberty Building UK, China, Spain, India and Canada. tionship with the film industry, in cluding through a window at a dealership and a car chase ensues, even- n the past 35 years, countless productions big and small have The Market Arcade in Buffalo, the its varied architecture, abundant human 852-2725 tually leading to the fateful spot where this stunt takes place. shot, at least partially, in Buffalo, including James Caan’s Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda resources and the new state film produc- www.gwlaub.com The stunt was filmed in a single take, and Milligan recalls every Idirectorial debut, the 1980 thriller Hide in Plain Sight; 1982’s and the Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls tion tax credits. Robert Redford, how- actor on hand that day to watch. With a crane and two under- Best Friends, starring Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds; the 1987 host the festival, which continues to ever, said what he’d remember most was water divers in place for emergencies, the car hit the ramp, Steve Martin comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles; and Manna grow every year. For 2014, founder Bill “the ease with which the people and the Registered with the SEC spiraled over the khlong below and landed on the other side to From Heaven, the 2002 indie by the Buffalo-bred Burton sisters. Cowell and others are creating a special place made this experience. ... I really an eruption of excitement and a celebratory champagne toast. Local director Peter McGennis Jr. hosted a red carpet premiere 30th anniversary documentary on The like this city.” Clearly others do, too. G “They called it a ‘loo loo’ and that meant, in the film industry, for The Queen City last November at the Market Arcade Film & perfect,” says Milligan, who still receives daily inquiries about Arts Centre. Starring Vivica A. Fox, the movie features Buffalo May - Memorial Day Parades in Angelica, Bolivar, Cuba, Wellsville, and the stunt. spots like the grain elevators, police headquarters, the Colored Whitesville, May 27 Behind the scenes, Buffalo was also integral to the birth of Musicians Club and Central Terminal, among others. June the Todd-AO process, a revolutionary advancement that re - Buffalo was even the birthplace of Miramax Films, the studio - Belmont Celtic Festival, Belmont, June 1 - Genesee River Wilds Annual River Float, Belfast, June 2 quired just one wide-angle camera to shoot and one projector to launched by Hollywood heavyweights Bob and Harvey Wein- - Dairy Week, Cuba, June 5-8 show a film (rather than the traditional three projectors), and stein in 1979. At the time, Harvey was better known for Harvey - Flag Day Celebration, Cuba, June 16 - Pioneer Oil Days, Bolivar, June 18-23 used 65mm film (as opposed to the standard 35mm film) to cre- & Corky, the concert promotion business he started with Horace - Strawberry Festival, Almond, June 24 ate a far better viewing experience for the audience. The process “Corky” Burger while studying at the University at Buffalo. In - Strawberry Festival, Scio, June 25 was co-developed by company founder Mike Todd and the 1974, they purchased the Century Theatre on Main Street and July - 4th of July Celebration & Fireworks, Andover July 3-4, American Optical Company, which had its Instrument Division reopened it as a concert hall and movie theater. Acclaimed blues Cuba Lake, July 3,Rushford Lake July 3. in Buffalo. (For more on American Optical, see “Brass Beauties, artist Bonnie Raitt and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer - Lavender Festival, Angelica, July 6 - Belfast Irish Heritage Festival, Belfast, July 13-14 Black Beauties” in our Winter 2013 issue; copies still available.) Jackson Browne were its debut acts. Five years later, the Wein- - Amity Daze, Belmont, July 13-14 The Regent Theatre, located at 1365 Main Street, served as steins founded Miramax, named after their parents Miriam and - Allegany County Fair, Angelica, July 15-20 the testing laboratory for Todd-AO. Test footage was captured Max, but moved the company to Manhattan in the early 1980s. - The Great Wellsville Balloon Rally, Wellsville, July 19-21 - Main Street Festival, Wellsville, July 20 in mid-June of 1953 at Niagara Falls, Ellicott Creek Park and They did shoot one picture here, a 1981 slasher film called The - Friendship Freedom Fair, Friendship, July 26-28 other spots outside the area, and on August 14, 1953, the 800- Burning, which filmed in Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus coun- - Tough Mudder, Tall Pines ATV Park, Andover, July 27-28 seat theater unveiled the process with these scenes and a couple ties. Variety reported in June 1981, “The Burning lit up Buffalo- August - Angelica Heritage Days, Angelica, August 3-4 others from the proposed film version of Oklahoma!. The musi- area screens this weekend” with a sizzling $33,000 gross from - Main Street Music Festival, Wellsville, August 8-10 cal’s hugely successful writing team of Richard Rodgers and three theaters and two drive-ins. - Hardcore Mudd Run, Swain, August 17-18 Oscar Hammerstein were there, and gave their wholehearted Most recently, Universal Pictures transformed Ralph Wilson - Rushford Labor Days Festival, August 30-Sept. 2 September approvalWESTERN for Oklahoma! to be the first-ever feature NEW fully shot in YORKStadium into the New YorkHERITAGE Giants’ stadium this past May for - Tall Pines Farm Fest, Andover, September 2 Todd-AO. They remarked on the seamless images, and the climax of its upcoming film The Best Man Holiday, out in - Allegany County participates in Fireball Run, September 20-29 - Garlic Festival, Cuba, September 21-22 Rodgers said, “This new medium of expression will November. According to Buffalo Film Commissioner Tim - Fall Harvest Festival, Canaseraga, September 21-22 revolutionize methods of storytelling, and for the first time we Clark, the movie generated over $1.5 million for Buffalo, as pro- - Civil War Reenactment, Angelica, September 27-29 realize what can be done on screen with our important duction set up downtown for two weeks and shot at the Ralph musicals.” The Sound of Music, Cleopatra and Airport were all for four days, requiring many local crewmembers and over 1,500 filmed in Todd-AO. extras. The Buffalo Niagara Film Commission assists producers
24 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 25 with permits and locations, and markets Natural and work ing to reunite many the region to filmmakers at festivals like of its stars in Buffalo next April. (If you Sundance and at trade shows, including have stories, photos or memorabilia from the popular AFCI Locations Show. that shoot, please contact Cowell at “Who would have ever thought we would [email protected].) be chosen to replicate Giants Stadium? Clearly, Buffalo’s brush with Holly- Who would have ever thought that Jerry wood is far from over. There are movie Bruckheimer would come here with playhouses, whether open or closed, that Disney to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean?” still characterize the cityscape and a few says Clark, who notes that something – a remaining film exchange buildings that film, commercial, music video, television still line Franklin. (D’Arcy McGee’s Irish episode or documentary – is filmed in Pub resides in the former Warner Bros. Buffalo almost every day. building, for instance.) We also continu- Meanwhile, the Buffalo Niagara Film ally roll out the welcome mat for films Festival has steadily made a name for and their producers. For The Natural, the INVESTMENT STEWARDSHIP Thankfully, Buffalo’s relationship with the film industry is not just history. In late May, Universal itself on the festival circuit since being Bisons sent a limo and police escort to Pictures filmed a key scene for The Best Man Holiday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Meanwhile, founded in 2007. It receives submissions pick up production designer Mel Bourne the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival has grown steadily as a launch pad for movies. Shown here, from across the country and all over the at the airport during his initial location Cheektowaga-native William Fichtner (from this summer’s The Lone Ranger) received the first star world. In 2013, for example, films shown scouting trip. There are plenty of reasons George W. Laub & Assoc., LLC on the BNFF Walk of Fame in 2011. MATTHEW BIDDLE PHOTO 2013; COURTESY BILL COWELL hailed from the U.S., Switzerland, the why Buffalo has enjoyed such a long rela- 424 Main St., Liberty Building UK, China, Spain, India and Canada. tionship with the film industry, in cluding through a window at a dealership and a car chase ensues, even- n the past 35 years, countless productions big and small have The Market Arcade in Buffalo, the its varied architecture, abundant human 852-2725 tually leading to the fateful spot where this stunt takes place. shot, at least partially, in Buffalo, including James Caan’s Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda resources and the new state film produc- www.gwlaub.com The stunt was filmed in a single take, and Milligan recalls every Idirectorial debut, the 1980 thriller Hide in Plain Sight; 1982’s and the Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls tion tax credits. Robert Redford, how- actor on hand that day to watch. With a crane and two under- Best Friends, starring Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds; the 1987 host the festival, which continues to ever, said what he’d remember most was water divers in place for emergencies, the car hit the ramp, Steve Martin comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles; and Manna grow every year. For 2014, founder Bill “the ease with which the people and the Registered with the SEC spiraled over the khlong below and landed on the other side to From Heaven, the 2002 indie by the Buffalo-bred Burton sisters. Cowell and others are creating a special place made this experience. ... I really an eruption of excitement and a celebratory champagne toast. Local director Peter McGennis Jr. hosted a red carpet premiere 30th anniversary documentary on The like this city.” Clearly others do, too. G “They called it a ‘loo loo’ and that meant, in the film industry, for The Queen City last November at the Market Arcade Film & perfect,” says Milligan, who still receives daily inquiries about Arts Centre. Starring Vivica A. Fox, the movie features Buffalo May - Memorial Day Parades in Angelica, Bolivar, Cuba, Wellsville, and the stunt. spots like the grain elevators, police headquarters, the Colored Whitesville, May 27 Behind the scenes, Buffalo was also integral to the birth of Musicians Club and Central Terminal, among others. June the Todd-AO process, a revolutionary advancement that re - Buffalo was even the birthplace of Miramax Films, the studio - Belmont Celtic Festival, Belmont, June 1 - Genesee River Wilds Annual River Float, Belfast, June 2 quired just one wide-angle camera to shoot and one projector to launched by Hollywood heavyweights Bob and Harvey Wein- - Dairy Week, Cuba, June 5-8 show a film (rather than the traditional three projectors), and stein in 1979. At the time, Harvey was better known for Harvey - Flag Day Celebration, Cuba, June 16 - Pioneer Oil Days, Bolivar, June 18-23 used 65mm film (as opposed to the standard 35mm film) to cre- & Corky, the concert promotion business he started with Horace - Strawberry Festival, Almond, June 24 ate a far better viewing experience for the audience. The process “Corky” Burger while studying at the University at Buffalo. In - Strawberry Festival, Scio, June 25 was co-developed by company founder Mike Todd and the 1974, they purchased the Century Theatre on Main Street and July - 4th of July Celebration & Fireworks, Andover July 3-4, American Optical Company, which had its Instrument Division reopened it as a concert hall and movie theater. Acclaimed blues Cuba Lake, July 3,Rushford Lake July 3. in Buffalo. (For more on American Optical, see “Brass Beauties, artist Bonnie Raitt and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer - Lavender Festival, Angelica, July 6 - Belfast Irish Heritage Festival, Belfast, July 13-14 Black Beauties” in our Winter 2013 issue; copies still available.) Jackson Browne were its debut acts. Five years later, the Wein- - Amity Daze, Belmont, July 13-14 The Regent Theatre, located at 1365 Main Street, served as steins founded Miramax, named after their parents Miriam and - Allegany County Fair, Angelica, July 15-20 the testing laboratory for Todd-AO. Test footage was captured Max, but moved the company to Manhattan in the early 1980s. - The Great Wellsville Balloon Rally, Wellsville, July 19-21 - Main Street Festival, Wellsville, July 20 in mid-June of 1953 at Niagara Falls, Ellicott Creek Park and They did shoot one picture here, a 1981 slasher film called The - Friendship Freedom Fair, Friendship, July 26-28 other spots outside the area, and on August 14, 1953, the 800- Burning, which filmed in Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus coun- - Tough Mudder, Tall Pines ATV Park, Andover, July 27-28 seat theater unveiled the process with these scenes and a couple ties. Variety reported in June 1981, “The Burning lit up Buffalo- August - Angelica Heritage Days, Angelica, August 3-4 others from the proposed film version of Oklahoma!. The musi- area screens this weekend” with a sizzling $33,000 gross from - Main Street Music Festival, Wellsville, August 8-10 cal’s hugely successful writing team of Richard Rodgers and three theaters and two drive-ins. - Hardcore Mudd Run, Swain, August 17-18 Oscar Hammerstein were there, and gave their wholehearted Most recently, Universal Pictures transformed Ralph Wilson - Rushford Labor Days Festival, August 30-Sept. 2 September approval for Oklahoma! to be the first-ever feature fully shot in Stadium into the New York Giants’ stadium this past May for WESTERN NEW YORK- Tall PinesHERITAGE Farm Fest, Andover, September 2 Todd-AO. They remarked on the seamless images, and the climax of its upcoming film The Best Man Holiday, out in - Allegany County participates in Fireball Run, September 20-29 - Garlic Festival, Cuba, September 21-22 Rodgers said, “This new medium of expression will November. According to Buffalo Film Commissioner Tim - Fall Harvest Festival, Canaseraga, September 21-22 revolutionize methods of storytelling, and for the first time we Clark, the movie generated over $1.5 million for Buffalo, as pro- - Civil War Reenactment, Angelica, September 27-29 realize what can be done on screen with our important duction set up downtown for two weeks and shot at the Ralph musicals.” The Sound of Music, Cleopatra and Airport were all for four days, requiring many local crewmembers and over 1,500 filmed in Todd-AO. extras. The Buffalo Niagara Film Commission assists producers
24 Summer 2013 WESTERN NEW YORK HERITAGE 25