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Bluebird Photoplays | |
Industry | Film |
Predecessor | Independent Moving Pictures |
Defunct | Branding ceased in the 1920s |
Fate | Universal Branding adbandoned |
Successor | Universal |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 2 |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Motion pictures |
Owner | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Parent | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Bluebird Photoplays (Bluebird Photoplays of New York, Inc. and Bluebird Photoplays of New England, Inc. [1] ) was an American film production company that filmed at Universal Pictures studios in California and New Jersey, [2] and distributed its films via Universal Pictures during the silent film era. It had a $500,000 studio in New Jersey. [2]
"It was a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and employed Universal stars (and starlets) and used Universal’s facilities but the pictures were marketed independently from Carl Laemmle’s umbrella company."—Anke Brouwers [3]
Mary MacLaren, was one of its stars. [4] Louise Lovely, an actress from Australia, was one of its stars. [5] Bluebird was a prestige brand for Universal and had a core of actors and directors including Lovely who worked for it. [6] [7] Ida May Park directed for Bluebird Photoplays. Elsie Jane Wilson produced and directed for Bluebird Photoplays. [8] Among those who worked for this short-lived subsidiary of Universal are Carmel Myers, Mae Murray, Rudolph Valentino, Tod Browning, Rex Ingram, [9] Robert Z. Leonard and Rupert Julian. [10]
Louis B. Mayer invested in the company. [1] M. H. Hoffman managed the company. [2]
The National Film and Sound Archive's festival of Spring Silents 2012 season 'Silent Screwball' at Arc Cinema, Canberra, Australia
via archive.org
Elsie Jane Wilson was a cinema actress, director, and writer during the early film era. She took part in the productions of the silent film era and starred in over thirty films. Between the years of 1916 and 1919, Wilson was credited for producing, writing two films, and directing eleven films. She was best known in the genres of dramas and comedy dramas.
Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It was purchased in 1919.
Grace Cunard was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions, and directed no fewer than eight of them. In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the shorts, serials, and features she developed in collaboration with Francis Ford. Her younger sister, Mina Cunard, was also a film actress.
Lois Wilson was an American actress who worked during the silent film era. She also directed two short films and was a scenario writer.
Florence Lois Weber was an American silent film director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the era of silent films". Film historian Anthony Slide has also asserted, "Along with D. W. Griffith, Weber was the American cinema's first genuine auteur, a filmmaker involved in all aspects of production and one who utilized the motion picture to put across her own ideas and philosophies".
All Night is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Paul Powell and starring Carmel Myers and Rudolph Valentino. It was released by Universal Pictures under the name Bluebird Photoplays.
Louise Lovely was an Australian film actress of Swiss-Italian descent. She is credited by film historians for being the first Australian actress to have a successful career in Hollywood, signing a contract with Universal Pictures in the United States in 1914. Lovely appeared in 50 American films and ten Australian films before retiring from acting in 1925.
Violet Mersereau was an American stage and film actress. Over the course of her screen career, Mersereau appeared in over 100 short and silent film features.
Lule Warrenton was an American actress, director, and producer during the silent film era. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1922. She was born in Flint, Michigan and died in Laguna Beach, California and was the mother of cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton.
Agnes Vernon was an American film actress of the silent era. While still in her teens, she experienced a meteoric ascent from obscurity to box-office sensation. After turning twenty-three and a movie career fading away, she abandoned the silver screen forever. Vernon performed in over 90 films between 1913 and 1922. She completed most of her roles under contract with Universal Pictures.
Ida May Park was an American screenwriter and film director of the silent era, in the early 20th century. She wrote for more than 50 films between 1914 and 1930, and directed 14 films between 1917 and 1920. She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. She was married to film director and producer Joseph De Grasse, with whom she was regularly teamed at Universal.
The Savage is a 1917 American silent drama film starring Colleen Moore and Monroe Salisbury that is set in Canada and was directed by Rupert Julian. The film is presumed to be lost.
Frank D. Williams was a pioneering cinematographer who was active in the early days of the motion picture industry. He developed and patented the traveling matte shot.
Shoes is a 1916 silent film drama directed by Lois Weber and starring Mary MacLaren. It was distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company and produced by Bluebird Photoplays, a subsidiary of Universal based in New York City and with access to Universal's studio facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey as well as in California. Shoes was added to the National Film Registry in 2014.
Butterfly also known as Butterfly Pictures was a film production company that produced and released films spanned as part of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company program from 1917 to 1918.
The Gift Girl is a 1917 American silent comedy directed by Rupert Julian based on the story by Harry R. Durant. The film stars Louise Lovely and Emory Johnson. The photoplay was produced by the Bluebird Photoplays. The film was released on March 26, 1917, by Universal.
The Morals of Hilda is a 1916 American silent film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The melodrama is based on the story of Henry Christeen Warnack and features Gretchen Lederer, Lois Wilson and Emory Johnson.
The Unattainable is a 1916 American Blank and White silent drama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on the story by Elwood D. Henning. The photoplay stars Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson.
A Stranger from Somewhere is a 1916 silent film directed by William Worthington. Universal's Bluebird Photoplays division produced and distributed the film. The movie featured Franklyn Farnum, Agnes Vernon, Barney Furey, and Claire McDowell. The screenplay was written by F. McGrew Willis and Walter Woods who were credited under the pseudonym Willis Woods.
This is a list of known on-screen appearances made by Joe Martin (orangutan), a film star of the 1910s and 1920s.