34°05′54″N
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Christie Film Company
was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in
Hollywood, California
by
Al Christie
and
Charles Christie
, two brothers from
London, Ontario
, Canada. It made comedies.
While Charles served almost exclusively in administration, it was Al Christie who made the films. Al had worked with
David Horsley
at his
Centaur Film Company
in
Bayonne
,
New Jersey
and moved to
California
on October 27, 1911, to run
Nestor Studios
, the first ever motion picture studio in
Hollywood
. The firm closed in 1933.
The Christies in Hollywood
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In June 1912, Nestor Studios became part of the newly formed
Universal Film Company
and Al Christie was put in charge of the comedy companies. He remained with
Universal Film
until January 1916 at which time he and his brother,
Charles Christie
, formed their own
movie studio
named the Christie Film Company. The two rented facilities from Universal at
Sunset Boulevard
and Gower Street, the place where Al Christie had first started in Hollywood. For the first six months of operations, the new Christie Film Company made comedies under a contract with Universal Film. In July of that year, the company began producing other comedies to sell to the independent distributors and their immediate success was such that they were soon able to finance the acquisition of their studio property. Within a short time, the Christie brothers doubled their stage capacity and constructed a film laboratory equipped with the latest in technology.
Unlike some of the "over the top comedies" being produced at the time, Christie Studios emphasized situational comedy that sometimes featured show girls in skimpy costumes. As comedy specialists, the Christie Film Company debuted comedy actors
Harold Lloyd
,
Fatty Arbuckle
,
Anita Garvin
and
black
actor
Spencer Williams
, later known for his portrayal of Andy Brown in the
Amos & Andy
"
CBS Television
series. The innovative Christie company began issuing
Film Follies
, a magazine advertising the latest films and events at the studio.
In 1921, Canadian
Mary Pickford
was a driving force behind the creation of the
Motion Picture Relief Fund
, an organization designed to help actors who had fallen on hard times. Christie Film Company supported this and Charles Christie played a major role, serving on the first Board of Trustees.
By 1922, the brothers were so successful that they set up Christie Realty Corporation with $1 million in capital stock.
The Christie brothers welcomed Canadian talent and stars such as
Marie Dressler
and
Marie Prevost
appeared in their films and became personal lifelong friends. In 1928, they hired
Florence Ryerson
to write several short films, including
Hot Lemonade
. Al Christie also hired
African-American
Spencer Williams
as a sound technician but soon recognized Williams' many talents and involved him in script writing. In early 1929, the Christie Film Company began making the first series of talking pictures written and conceived exclusively for
African-American
performers. They produced a number of comedy-musical shorts that featured an all-black cast from the
Lafayette Players Stock Company
out of
Harlem, New York
. The films, based on the popular
Saturday Evening Post
's
Darktown Birmingham
stories by
Octavus Roy Cohen
(1891-1959), were distributed by
Paramount Studios
.
Demise of company
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However, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the ensuing
Great Depression
devastated many businesses and in January 1933, the Christie brothers companies went into receivership and their studio assets were acquired by another large film making company.
Gallery of Female Christie Comics
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]
References
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- ^
Standing, left to right: Harry Rattenbury, George French, Anton Nagy (cameraman), Al Christie, Eddie Barry, Charles Christie, unidentified cameraman, Horace Davis, unknown, Mr Lyons. Seated: Lee Moran, Ukulele Jane, Edie Lyons, Betty Compson,
Billie Rhodes
, Ray Gallagher, Stella Adams, Neal Burns. On the floor: Joseph Janecke, Gus Alexander, unknown.
- Paul Zollo,
Hollywood Remembered
- Gregory Paul Williams,
The Story of Hollywood By Gregory Paul Williams
, page 62
External links
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