Powers Picture Plays, initially Powers Company, was an American film company established during the silent film era. It produced 839 films between 1909 and 1923, and distributed 19 films between 1909 and 1932.
Irving Cummings was a "leading man" at the studio. [1] Thomas Evans was the studio's general manager. [2]
In 1909, the company was formed by Patrick "Pat" Anthony Powers (1869–1948), as Powers Company, with an office in Wakefield, New York. The same year, Powers and Irving Cummings opened a new studio in Mount Vernon, New York, near the Bronx, with Joseph A. Golden as director and Ludwig G. B. Erb as cameraman, and some films have been produced.
Locations associated with the company include 251st Street and Richardson Avenue [3] and 145 W. 45th Street. Its films were printed on Eastman stock according to an ad. [4]
In 1910 the Powers Company changed its name to Powers Picture Plays, and Joseph A. Golden was one of its first directors.
In 1911 it announced an adaptation of Gunga Din from the Rudyard Kipling poem, a production titled The Awakening of Galatea from "the story of Pygmalion's Strange Love", and Nat M. Wills in a "Happy Tramp" comedy film. [5] [6]
In 1912, Powers Picture merged to form Universal Pictures. Universal was formed in 1912 by the emergence of the Rex Film Company, American division of Éclair, Nestor Film Company, Powers Picture Plays, The Champion Film Company, Yankee Film Company (that quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), and New York Motion Picture Company.[ citation needed ] Even after 1912, Powers Picture films were still being credited but were distributed by Universal. Mexican Border Defenders was shot in New Mexico in 1912. It was filmed in New Mexico. [7]
Edna Maison was an American silent film actress.
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.
Jackie Saunders was an American silent screen actress who was one of the major players and stars of Balboa Films.
Harold Marvin Shaw was an American stage performer, film actor, screenwriter, and director during the silent era. A native of Tennessee, he worked in theatrical plays and vaudeville for 16 years before he began acting in motion pictures for Edison Studios in New York City in 1910 and then started regularly directing shorts there two years later. Shaw next served briefly as a director for Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) in New York before moving to England in May 1913 to be "chief producer" for the newly established London Film Company. During World War I, he relocated to South Africa, where in 1916 he directed the film De Voortrekkers in cooperation with African Film Productions, Limited. Shaw also established his own production company while in South Africa, completing there two more releases, The Rose of Rhodesia in 1918 and the comedy Thoroughbreds All in 1919. After directing films once again in England under contract with Stoll Pictures, he finally returned to the United States in 1922 and later directed several screen projects for Metro Pictures in California before his death in Los Angeles in 1926. During his 15-year film career, Shaw worked on more than 125 films either as a director, actor, or screenwriter.
A Yankee Princess is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a lost film.
Hal Wilson, was a character actor who appeared in silent films. He was born in New York City. He was a denizen of Hollywood. He had a significant role in The Man Trap.
The Champion Film Company was an independent production company founded in 1909 by Mark M. Dintenfass. The studio was one of the film companies that merged to form Universal Pictures.
Jack Brammall, born John George Brammall, was an English-born American actor on stage and screen.
Conquest Pictures was a film production unit launched in 1917 as part of Thomas A. Edison Inc. It produced films for young people and families including subjects from popular children's authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Richard Harding Davis, Ralph Henry Barbour, and Mary Shipman Andrews. Anna M. Callan was in charge of the division. Its films were distributed through the George Kleine System. It closed in 1918 and its films were sold off as Edison exited the film production business.
Gilbert P. Hamilton was an American film company executive and director. He worked at Essanay as a cinematographer, headed the St. Louis Motion Picture Company, and then launched the Albuquerque Film Manufacturing Company.
Earl Triplett Montgomery was a film director, writer, and comedian who performed in silent films including as the character Hairbreadth Harry. He established the producing company Earl Montgomery Comedy Company. Joe Rock partnered with him at Vitagraph.
Edwin Middleton was an American film director.
Albert W. Hale was a French-born American early film director and producer. He directed some 35 films from 1912 until 1915. He worked for Majestic Film Company studio, and the National Film Corporation.
Dorcas Neville Matthews was an English actress in silent films in the U.S. She had numerous roles as a supporting actress and was well known.
Reliance Film Company (1910–1915) was an early movie production studio in the United States. It was established in 1910 in Coney Island by Adam Kessel Jr. and Charles O. Baumann.
William Robert Daly was an actor and director of silent films.
Frank Opperman (1861–1922) was an actor in American silent films. In 1916, he was reported to have had a 29-year career on stage and a 7-year film career. Between 1903 and 1907, Opperman appeared three times on Broadway, in Little Lord Fauntleroy, Cashel Byron, and an adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Her Husband's Faith is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by Paul Machette. Eugene De Rue developed the screenplay. This domestic society drama's features Dorothy Davenport, T. D. Crittenden and Emory Johnson.
Joseph A. Golden was a silent film director and screenwriter in the United States. His films include A Woman's Wit and Resurrection. He began working in film in 1907, directing the one-reel film The Hypnotist's Revenge for American Mutoscope & Biograph.
Joe Martin the orangutan was a film star of the 1910s and 1920s.