Edison Manufacturing Company [us]

Monday

Feb082010

1890-1911 | United States of America

Production Company | Distribution Company

Edison’s flavour for technology could hardly miss the temptation to embark on the development of moving images. The early patent war with the European inventors has hardly put the avaricious businessman in a good light in contemporary criticism. But, with the opening of the "Black Maria" studio in West Orange, New Jersey, Edison has truly created a new type of organisation. The Edison Manufacturing Company is the first company that has decided that investment in film is not only worthwhile, but also a profitable venture.

Despite overseeing the company from a distance, Edison ensured that he is the key brand, and not the film-makers, that would work in the market. Arguably, it was this egomaniac act that contributed to the popularisation of motion pictures in the early days. Dickson, Heise, White and the other creative directors to be in charge at the Edison Manufacturing Co. have all benefited from the success Edison’s films had in their time, a success that was driven both by curiosity, but also by trust in a brand.

The production company has paved the way for the flourishing of the studio system, aimed primarily at encouraging commercial output. From the very first productions, it was clear that what made film unique was the power to immortalise those celebrities everyone wanted to meet at least once in their lifetime. Thus, Annie Oakley, Eugene Sandow, William McKinley, Edward VII, and many others suddenly became acquainted with hundreds of individuals watching them on the celluloid frame. And then there were the perverse acts, such as the decapitation in The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) or the lingering eroticism of The Kiss (1896), mingling comfortably with the dance routines from Carmencita (1894) and Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), and even with straightforward advertising as in Admiral Cigarette (1897). If people wanted to go to the movies, they needed to see something that they would find worthwhile paying for.

It is thus not surprising that it was the Edison Manufacturing Co. to produce the first blockbuster, the formidable The Great Train Robbery (1903). With all its chases and rebellious behaviour, the film promised entertainment in its purest form, a kind of fun that was novel for most audiences. It is precisely this rediscovery of public entertainment that makes the company central to our modern understanding of cinema. The directors that worked for Edison have all understood that, at least prior to the merger of the company within the Thomas A. Edison, Inc. conglomerate.