Mutual Film Corporation
| Industry | Film studio |
|---|---|
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Founded | July 1912 |
| Defunct | December 31, 1918 |
| Headquarters | Edendale, California |
|
Key people
|
John R. Freuler (1872–1958) Harry E. Aitken (1877–1956) Roy Aitken (1882–1976) |
| Subsidiaries |
Keystone Studios Comedies Majestic Studios/Reliance-Majestic Studios New York Motion Picture Company (and its subsidiaries:Kay Bee Studios, 101-Bison Company, Broncho Film Company, & Domino Film Company) Signal Film Corporation Vogue Films, Inc. Lone Star Film Company American Film Company |
Mutual Film Corporation was an early American motion picture conglomerate best remembered today as the producers of some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies. Founded in 1912, it was absorbed by Film Booking Offices of America, which evolved into RKO Pictures.
Mutual Film Corporation was formed in 1912 by a group American businessmen including Harry E. Aitken. The releasing and distribution company had numerous subsidiary production units, including Keystone, famed producer of comedies. Mutual is celebrated for signing Charlie Chaplin in 1916; he produced some of his best comedies while working for the company.
Mutual originated with the partnership behind Western Film Exchange, founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July 1906 by Harry and Roy Aitken and John R. Freuler. In 1910, Freuler would also form a partnership with Chicago film distributor Samuel S. Hutchinson, founding a production entity known as the American Film Manufacturing Company.
In early 1912 when, with the Shallenberger brothers (Wilbert E. and William Edgar), Crawford Livingston, and others as investors, Charles J. Hite, the President & CEO of Thanhouser Film Corporation, joined Freuler and Harry E. Aitken in the formation of Mutual Film.
As 1912 progressed, the company included auxiliary units such as Keystone Studios Comedies, the Majestic Studios (which would later become the Reliance-Majestic Studios through Harry Aitken's partnership with D. W. Griffith), and the New York Motion Picture Company. In 1915, the workers of Keystone Studios, Kay Bee Studios (a subsidiary of the New York Motion Picture Company) and Reliance-Majestic Studio left Mutual, along with the Aitken brothers, to form the Triangle Film Corporation. Now as complete owners of the former Reliance-Majestic Studio, by 1917 the conglomerate operated as the distributor for four subsidiary studios in California, three of which were in the Los Angeles area and the other in Santa Barbara. They were Signal Film Corporation, Vogue Films, Inc., Lone Star Film Company and American Film Company. Vogue Films, Inc. operated a studio at Santa Monica Boulevard and Gower street in Los Angeles producing two-reel comedy films exclusively. Among the other subsidiaries of the New York Motion Picture Company were: 101-Bison Company, Broncho Film Company, & Domino Film Company.
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