Christie Film Company was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...

and

Charles Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...

, two brothers from

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, Canada. It made comedies. While Charles served almost exclusively in administration, it was Al Christie who made the films. Al had worked with

David Horsley David Horsley (March 11, 1873 – February 23, 1933) was an English-American pioneer of the film industry. He founded the Centaur Film Company and its West Coast branch, the Nestor Film Company, which established the first film studio in Holl ...

at his Centaur Film Company in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on October 27, 1911, to run

Nestor Studios The Nestor Film Company, originally known as the Nestor Motion Picture Company, was an American motion picture production company. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the Centaur Film Company located in Bayonne, New Jersey ...

, the first ever motion picture studio in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. The firm closed in 1933.

The Christies in Hollywood

In June 1912, Nestor Studios became part of the newly-formed Universal Film Company and Al Christie was put in charge of the comedy companies. He remained with Universal Film until January 1916 at which time he and his brother,

, formed their own

movie studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; howe ...

named the Christie Film Company. The two rented facilities from Universal at

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

and Gower Street, the place where Al Christie had first started in Hollywood. For the first six months of operations, the new Christie Film Company made comedies under a contract with Universal Film. In July of that year, the company began producing other comedies to sell to the independent distributors and their immediate success was such that they were soon able to finance the acquisition of their studio property. Within a short time, the Christie brothers doubled their stage capacity and constructed a film laboratory equipped with the latest in technology. Unlike some of the "over the top comedies" being produced at the time, Christie Studios emphasized situational comedy that sometimes featured show girls in skimpy costumes. As comedy specialists, the Christie Film Company debuted comedy actors

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

Anita Garvin Anita Garvin (born Anna Frances Garvin; February 11, 1906 – July 7, 1994) was an American stage performer and film actress who worked in both the silent and sound eras."California Death Index, 1940-1997", Anita Garvin Stanley, February 11, 19 ...

, and

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", " I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a N ...

, later known for his portrayal of Andy Brown in the '' Amos & Andy''

CBS Television CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

series. The innovative Christie company began issuing ''Film Follies'', a magazine advertising the latest films and events at the studio. In 1921, Canadian

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

was a driving force behind the creation of the

Motion Picture Relief Fund The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

, an organization designed to help actors who had fallen on hard times. Christie Film Company supported this and Charles Christie played a major role, serving on the first Board of Trustees. By 1922, the brothers were so successful that they set up Christie Realty Corporation (CRC) with $1 million in capital stock. In 1923 CRC bought 230 acres of land in the Westwood section of Los Angeles with plans to build a studio estimated to cost more than $1.75 million dollars (including the value of the land). The Christie brothers welcomed Canadian talent and stars such as

Marie Dressler Leila Marie Koerber (November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress and comedian, popular in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood in early silent film, silent an ...

and

Marie Prevost Marie Prevost (born Mary Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films. Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was discove ...

appeared in their films and became lifelong friends. In 1928, they hired

Florence Ryerson Florence Ryerson (September 20, 1892 – June 8, 1965) was an American playwright, screenwriter and co-author of the script for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. Between 1915 and 1927 she published more than 30 short stories and then joined Met ...

to write several short films, including ''Hot Lemonade''. Al Christie also hired

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

as a sound technician but soon recognized Williams' many talents and involved him in script writing. In early 1929, the Christie Film Company began making the first series of talking pictures written and conceived exclusively for

performers. They produced a number of comedy-musical shorts that featured an all-black cast from the Lafayette Players Stock Company out of

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

. The films, based on the popular

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

's ''Darktown Birmingham'' stories by Octavus Roy Cohen (1891-1959), were distributed by

Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...

Demise of company

However, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the ensuing

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

devastated many businesses and in January 1933, the Christie brothers companies went into receivership and their studio assets were acquired by another large film making company. The liquidation process began on May 26, 1932, as an attorney was instructed to begin the process of turning assets of the film company and the realty company to an assignee, which essentially put the firms into a receivership. Combined assets of the companies were estimated to be $2.5 million - $3 million, and total indebtedness was approximately $2.5 million. In 1950 Sam Hayes gained television rights for 426 Christie comedies as part of a larger deal with Hollywood Film Enterprises.

Gallery of Female Christie Comics

File:Teddy Sampson 01.JPG,

Teddy Sampson Nora Sampson (August 8, 1895 – November 24, 1970), known professionally as Teddy Sampson, was an American stage and silent film actress who appeared in at least forty-one motion pictures between 1914 and 1923. Biography Nora Sampson was born i ...

File:Dorothy Devore From Famous Film Folk.jpg, Dorothy Devore File:Ann Christy 1927.jpg, Ann Christy File: Duane Thompson Hartsook.jpg,

Duane Thompson Duane Thompson (born Lura Duane Malony; July 28, 1903 – August 15, 1970) was an American film actress during Hollywood's silent film era. When talkies pushed silent films into the background, she worked in stock theater for a time befo ...

References

*Paul Zollo, ''Hollywood Remembered'' *Gregory Paul Williams, ''The Story of Hollywood By Gregory Paul Williams'', page 62

External links

List of Christie Film Company films at IMDB
{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1916 Mass media companies disestablished in 1933 Defunct American film studios Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles 1916 establishments in California 1933 disestablishments in California Film production companies of the United States Film studios in Southern California