Joseph L. Menchen (1 April 1878 − 4 October 1940) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

inventor, self-made businessman, film producer, screenwriter and literary agent. Menchen was born on 1 April 1878 in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. 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 t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. 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 Michel Carré (; 20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing li ...

) ''

The Miracle (1912 film) ''The Miracle'' (German: ''Das Mirakel'', French: ''Le Miracle'') is a 1912 British* "The International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) defines the country of origin as the country of the principal offices of the production company or indiv ...

'', 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 Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

'' detective novels by

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French ...

, which he sold to Robertson-Cole for $360,000 in 1920. Miracle Easter 01

Menchen died on 4 October 1940, aged 62, in

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 ...

and was buried in Glendale.''Ogden Standard Examiner'', 9 October 1940, p. 6
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References

Notes Citations Sources * * This a zoomable image: for other format

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External links

* 1878 births 1940 deaths American film producers 20th-century American inventors American male screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screen-writer-1870s-stub