Lumiton
 |
|
| Company | |
| Industry | Film studio |
| Fate | Bankrupt |
| Founded | Munro, Buenos Aires, Argentina (17 December 1932) |
| Defunct | May 15, 1952 |
| Headquarters | Munro, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
|
Area served
|
Latin America |
Lumiton was a film production company founded in Argentina in 1932 at the start of the golden age of film in that country. Its lowbrow, populist films appealed to local audiences and were highly successful in Argentina and throughout Latin America. It was the main competitor to Argentina Sono Film in the 1940s. After World War II (1939–45) Lumiton faced increased government regulation, rising costs and loss of audiences to more sophisticated Hollywood productions. The company was forced to close in 1952.
Lumiton was founded in the town of Munro, Buenos Aires, with an initial capital of 300,000 pesos. The name "Lumiton" is made from the words for "light" and "sound". The full name was "Sociedad Anónima Radio Cinematográfica Lumiton" (Lumiton Radio Cinematography Company Ltd.) The founders had earlier pioneered radio broadcast in Argentina, and were now pioneering sound films. They had made one of the first radio broadcasts in the world in August 1920 from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires. They were César José Guerrico, Enrique T. Susini, Luis Romero Carranza and Miguel Mujica. The first Lumiton studio was built with a modern laboratory and technical facilities on property owned by Isabel Zeller de Lehan. A complete crew was hired in the United States. This included the director of photography John Alton, and the sound designer Lazlo Kish.
The state was not involved in the film industry, either directly or through subsidies. Without the same bargaining power as the big Hollywood studios, the local studios could not demand a share of receipts from the distributors, but had to sell their films for a flat rate and therefore had to keep costs and capital expenditures to the minimum. In the early years, Lumiton's audience was struggling with the effect of the Great Depression of the 1930, but the cheap and lighthearted productions perhaps helped people escape from their problems.
There are distinct regional dialects in Latin America. Castilian Spanish is often not easy for local people to understand. Subtitling would not work with the audiences of the 1930s, many of whom were semi-literate. This created demand for locally produced sound films. Lumiton employed local actors experienced in radio or popular theater. Although locally made films were not as technically slick as those from Hollywood, films with local actors, themes and settings appealed to local audiences. Lumiton became known for its lowbrow tango films.Carlos Gardel (1890–1935) made tango popular throughout Latin America, and this created a large export market for Lumiton's films.
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