The patent for the “Latham Loop” is overthrown by the courts.
French multi-reel, feature-length films achieve great popularity and critical acclaim in the U.S. They help to establish the multi-reel “feature” film as a story that should be screened in its entirety during a single program.
The French comic actor, Max Linder, who makes films for Pathè, becomes the highest paid film actor in the world.
Daniel Frohman, Adolph Zukor and Edwin Porter found the “Famous Players Film Company”. They purchase the exclusive distribution rights to “Queen Elizabeth”, Sarah Bernhardt’s latest film, from the Franco-German company, Eclipse.
Carl Laemmle, the head of the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP), has organized the merger of several independent production companies to form “Universal Film Manufacturing Company”.
Mack Sennett, a former director at Biograph, forms the “Keystone Picture Company” and prepares to start filming at the studios of Bison Life in Hollywood, California.
Significant Films:
The four-reel film, “Queen Elizabeth”, starring Sarah Bernhardt, is shown at the Lyceum Theater in New York City. It is the longest movie presented in the U.S. to date. It becomes the first film to be seriously reviewed and talked about in the major newspapers.