Triangle Film Corporation
Company typePublic
IndustryFilm
FoundedJuly 1915
FounderHarry and Roy Aitken
Defunct1922
FateAbsorbed
Headquarters
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Adolph Zukor (Producer)
Filmmakers:
D.W. Griffith
Thomas Ince
Mack Sennett

Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922.

History

The studio was founded in July 1915 by Harry and Roy Aitken, two brothers from the Wisconsin farmlands who pioneered the studio system of Hollywood's Golden Age. Harry was also D. W. Griffith's partner at Reliance-Majestic Studios; both parted with the Mutual Film Corporation in the wake of The Birth of a Nation's unexpected success that year.[1] Triangle was envisioned as a prestige studio based on the producing abilities of filmmakers D. W. Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett.[2]

The studio planned to open eight model theaters, but opened only three: the Knickerbocker in New York, the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadelphia and the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago. They opened in 1915 and were all closed as unviable in 1916.[3]

Eventually, the studio suffered from bloat. By 1917, producer Adolph Zukor had taken control of all of the studio's assets.[4] In June 1917, Thomas H. Ince and Mack Sennett left the company and sold their remaining interests.[5] In 1917, Triangle's distribution network of film exchanges were sold off to the W.W. Hodkinson company for $600,000[6] (equivalent to $14,000,000 in 2023). Goldwyn Pictures purchased the Triangle Studios in Culver City in 1918.[7][8][9]

Triangle continued to produce films until 1919, when it ceased operations. Films using the Triangle name were still released to the general public until 1923.[4]

Selected filmography

Main article: List of Triangle Film films

With the exception of Oh, Mabel Behave (1922), all of Triangle's films were released between 1915 and 1919.[10] Most films were made on the West Coast, but some of Triangle's production took place in Fort Lee, New Jersey.[11]

1915
1916
1917
1918
1919

References

  1. ^ Merritt, Greg (2000). Celluloid Mavericks: The History of American Independent Film. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-56025-232-0.
  2. ^ Slide, Anthony (1994). Early American Cinema (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-8108-2722-0.
  3. ^ King, Rob (2005). ""Made for the Masses with an Appeal to the Classes": The Triangle Film Corporation and the Failure of Highbrow Film Culture". Cinema Journal. 44 (2 (Winter, 2005)): 3–33. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b Taves, Brian (2012). Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer. University Press of Kentucky. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8131-3422-2.
  5. ^ Kingsley, Grace (June 7, 1917). "Triangle Chiefs Quit; New Griffith Picture Is To Be Made On War Grounds". The Los Angeles Times. p. 3.
  6. ^ Lombardi p.74
  7. ^ "Studios and Films". Fort Lee Film Commission. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
  8. ^ Fort Lee Film Commission (2006). Fort Lee: Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738545015.
  9. ^ "Lot History". Sony Picture Museum. Sony Pictures Entertainment. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  10. ^ Triangle Film Corporation (US) from the Internet Movie Database
  11. ^ Koszarski, Richard (2004). Fort Lee: The Film Town. Indiana University Press. p. 152. ISBN 0-86196-653-8.

Sources

External links

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