User:Noreendc/sandbox

The United States Motion Picture Corporation was a film production company that made silent films in the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, area from 1916 through 1920. Incorporated in New Jersey on March 2, 1915, the company’s main office was in downtown Wilkes-Barre and its studios were located across the Susquehanna River in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, on Slocum Street near Wyoming Avenue.

Business history


The United States Motion Picture Corporation was founded in 1915 by James O. Walsh, who was its president, Fred W. Hermann, who was the vice president, and Daniel L. Hart, who was its treasurer and is also listed as its scenario editor in one newspaper account. Hart, an award-winning playwright, would later serve as the mayor of Wilkes-Barre from 1920 to his death in 1933.

Black Diamond Comedies Between October 2, 1916 and November 12, 1917, the United States Motion Picture Corporation produced and released 27 Black Diamond Comedies. The one-reel silents films were distributed by Paramount Pictures. The films often followed a character named Susie, portrayed by USMPC’s leading lady Leatrice Joy, through mishaps and blunders.

Two Black Diamond Comedies are known to exist as of December 2012. One is Her Fractured Voice, which was released June 11, 1917. Film prints of Her Fractured Voice are held in the Prelinger Archives and at the Library of Congress. The Prelinger also digitized its print and made it available online. The film features scenes of downtown Wilkes-Barre, including images of the original fountain in the city's Public Square.

A second surviving Black Diamond Comedy is "Susie Slips One Over," which was released October 7, 1917. Film prints of Susie Slips One Over are held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also holds a poster for the film. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has recently (in November 2012) agreed to deposit a DVD of the film with the Luzerne County Historical Society archive in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Though many of the Black Diamond films have not been found, plot summaries and images from posters and advertisements and more information about these films are collected in the Black Diamond Comedies blog, researched and published by Dr. Noreen O'Connor and her students in the English department at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. O'Connor and her students worked with the Luzerne County Historical Society to organize a screening of three silent films, including Her Fractured Voice, with musical accompaniment on October 26, 2012 at King's College.

Unique Comedies After the United States Motion Picture Corporation ended its contract with Paramount Pictures in 1917, the company continued to make one-reel films called Unique Comedies, which were distributed by the Arrow Film Company of New York.

Only one print of the United States Motion Pictures Corporation films released under the Unique Comedies title is known to exist, His Neglected Wife starring Lillian Vera. The film was discovered in a vault in New Zealand and was returned to the United States for restoration at George Eastman House. The film features images of the Sterling Hotel in Wllkes-Barre and a street scene in Forty-Fort, Pennsylvania. Charles Petrillo, a historian in Wilkes-Barre, sponsored this restoration and has ensured that a DVD copy of the film will be placed at the Luzerne County Historical Society archives for further study. Petrillo spoke about his preservation and historical research work when the film was screened with musical accompaniment on October 26, 2012 at King's College.

Rainbow Comedies The USMPC resumed film production of their comedies after the Great War; in 1918 they began releasing Rainbow Comedies, one-reel films starring Lillian Vera and Eddie Boulden that were distributed by the General Film Company in 1918 and 1919.

Serico The United States Motion Picture Corporation stopped producing films in 1919. The company's studios in Forty Fort were subsequently used by the Serico Company. Serico was known its serial entitled A Woman in Grey, produced in 1920.

United States Moving Picture Corporation The Wilkes-Barre based United States Motion Picture Corporation has sometimes been confused with the United States Moving Picture Corporation, which was founded in Delaware. As of the writing of this entry, even the Internet Movie Database has confused the two companies and has listed both companies' films on the same page. While the Wilkes-Barre company closed in 1920, the Delaware film production company produced two feature-length films in the early 1920s: Determination, which has no known exant print, and Flesh and Spirit (1922), which is held at the Library of Congress and at the Luzerne County Historical Society. Though the film was not produced in Wilkes-Barre, this print is held by the historical society because a generous donor believed it was produced there and purchased a safety film print from the Library of Congress in the 1960s. This print, in excellent condition, was transferred to DVD format in 2010. The film, which has a ghostly theme, was screened with musical accompaniment on October 26, 2012 at King's College.

Selected filmography
Black Diamond Comedies:
 * Nearly a Deserter (Paramount Pictures release date October 2, 1916))
 * Bridget’s Blunder (Paramount Pictures release date October 16, 1916)
 * A Troublesome Trip (Paramount Pictures release date October 20, 1916)
 * Villainous Pursuit (Paramount Pictures release date November 13, 1916)
 * Their Counterfeit Vacation (Paramount Pictures release date November 27, 1916)
 * His Ivory Dome (Paramount Pictures release date December 11, 1916)
 * Their Week-end (Paramount Pictures release date December 25, 1916)
 * Braving Blazes (Paramount Pictures release date January 8, 1917)
 * He Did It Himself (Paramount Pictures release date January 22, 1917)
 * Her Scrambled Ambition(Paramount Pictures release date February 1, 1917)
 * All at Sea (Paramount Pictures release date February 6, 1917)
 * Speed (Paramount Pictures release date March 5, 1917)
 * The Magic Vest (Paramount Pictures release date March 19, 1917)
 * The Wishbone (Paramount Pictures release date April 16,1917)
 * Getting the Evidence (Paramount Pictures release date April 21, 1917)
 * Her Iron Will (Paramount Pictures release date April 30, 1917)
 * The Window Dresser’s Dream (Paramount Pictures release date May 14, 1917)
 * Susie of the Follies (Paramount Pictures release date May 28, 1917)
 * Her Fractured Voice (Paramount Pictures release date June 11, 1917)
 * Auto Intoxication (Paramount Pictures release date June 25, 1917)
 * Wits and Fits (Paramount Pictures release date July 9, 1917)
 * The Rejuvenator (Paramount Pictures release date July 23, 1917)
 * Susie the Sleepwalker (Paramount Pictures release date August 6, 1917)
 * Susie’s Scheme (Paramount Pictures release date September 17, 1917)
 * ''Susie Slips One Over" (Paramount Pictures release date October 7, 1917)
 * ''Nearly a Baker" (Paramount Pictures release date October 15, 1917)
 * A Society Scrimmage (Paramount Pictures release date November 12, 1917)

Unique Comedies:
 * His Neglected Wife

Rainbow Comedies:
 * Nearly a Slacker
 * How She Hated Men
 * The Pipe of Peace
 * Hooverizing
 * The Camouflaged Baby
 * Some Judge
 * My Lady’s Slipper