Joseph L. Menchen (1 April 1878 − 4 October 1940) was an American inventor, self-made businessman, film producer, screenwriter and literary agent. Menchen was born on 1 April 1878 in Illinois. In 1895, Menchen was a theatre electrician in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Missouri. He was the owner of Joseph Menchen Electrical Co., New York, which sold electrical theatre lighting and stage effects. Menchen produced and co-directed (with Michel Carré) '' The Miracle (1912 film)'', an early full-length, hand-coloured, black-and-white British feature film. In 1915, he was involved with the design of the Norris-Menchen flamethrower. He also owned the original film rights to the '' Arsène Lupin'' detective novels by Maurice Leblanc, which he sold to

Robertson-Cole Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the Silent film, silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an ...

for $360,000 in 1920. Miracle Easter 01

Menchen died on 4 October 1940, aged 62, in California and was buried in Glendale.''Ogden Standard Examiner'', 9 October 1940, p. 6
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References

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* 1878 births 1940 deaths American film producers 20th-century American inventors American male screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-business-bio-stub