Keystone Studios was an early

film 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; how ...

founded in Edendale, California (which is now a part of

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

) on July 4, 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...

with backing from actor-writer Adam Kessel (1866–1946) and Charles O. Baumann (1874–1931), owners of the New York Motion Picture Company (founded 1909). The company, referred to at its office as The Keystone Film Company, filmed in and around Glendale and

Silver Lake, Los Angeles Silver Lake is a residential and commercial Neighbourhood, neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California, United States, originally home to a small community called Ivanhoe, so named in honor of Ivanhoe, ...

for several years, and its films were distributed by the Mutual Film Corporation between 1912 and 1915. The Keystone film brand declined rapidly after Sennett went independent in 1917. The name ''Keystone'' was taken from the side of one of the cars of a passing

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

train (Keystone State being the nickname of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

) during the initial meeting of Sennett, Kessel and Baumann in New York. The original main building, the first totally enclosed film stage and studio in history, is still standing. It is located at 1712 Glendale Blvd in

Echo Park, Los Angeles Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east- central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become know ...

and is now being used as a Public storage facility.

Production

The studio is especially remembered for its

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

era under

, the Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, who became known as the 'King of Comedy'. With financial backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman of the

New York Motion Picture Company The New York Motion Picture Company was a film production and distribution company from 1909 until 1914. It changed names to New York Picture Corporation in 1912. It released films through several different brand names, including 101 Bison, Kay ...

, Sennett founded Keystone Studios in Edendale, California – now a part of

– in 1912. The original main building which was the first totally enclosed film stage and studio ever constructed, is still there today. Known as Sennett's ''Fun Factory'', it was here that he created the

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

antics of the Keystone Cops (from 1912) and the

Sennett Bathing Beauties Sennett Bathing Beauties was a bevy of women performing in bathing costumes assembled by film producer Mack Sennett during the silent film era. Description The Sennett Bathing Beauties appeared in Mack Sennett comedy Short film, short subjects, ...

(beginning in 1915). Keystone comedies were noted for their hair-raising car chases and

custard pie A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture placed in an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, "custard pie" commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and some ...

warfare, especially in the ''Keystone Cops'' series.

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

got his start in films at Keystone when Sennett hired him in 1914, fresh from his

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

career, to make

s, in which he rapidly became a star performer and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, participating in thirty-five films within the single year he worked there. Other actors who worked at Keystone toward the beginning of their film careers include

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 ...

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 ...

Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...

Roscoe 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 ...

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

Louise Fazenda Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films. Early life Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise bro ...

Raymond Griffith Raymond Griffith (January 23, 1895 – November 25, 1957) was an American silent movie actor and comedian. Later in his career, he worked behind the camera as writer and producer. Biography Griffith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost ...

Ford Sterling Ford Sterling (born George Stitch; November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Early years Sterli ...

Ben Turpin Bernard "Ben" Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) was an American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films. His trademarks were his Esotropia, cross-eyed appearance and adeptness at vigorous physical comedy ...

Harry Langdon Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...

, Al St. John and

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with ...

. In 1915, Keystone Studios became an autonomous production unit of the

Triangle Film Corporation Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922. History The studio was founded in Jul ...

with

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

and Thomas Ince. Sennett left in 1917 to produce his own independent films (eventually distributed through

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

), after which Keystone's business declined. Keystone Studios eventually closed after bankruptcy in 1935.

Legacy

Much of the lighting and studio equipment from Keystone was bought by Reymond King, who started the "Award Cinema Movie Equipment" company in Venice, CA in November, 1935. "Keystone Studios" is the fictional studio in the Cineville film '' Swimming With Sharks'' (1994). In 2007, when the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

studio Cineville merged with the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

distributor Westlake Entertainment, the companies named their joint enterprise Keystone.Robertson, Willa (2007-07-18)
"Cineville, Westlake create Keystone"

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. Retrieved 2018-08-15. The original Keystone Studios lot was an explorable location, as well as a major plot element, in the 2011 video game '' L.A. Noire'', published by

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

Gallery

File:The Fatal Mallet.jpg,

and

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered ...

in '' The Fatal Mallet'' (1914) File:Charles O Baumann 001.jpg, Charles Baumann File:Adam Kessel 001.jpg, Adam Kessel File:Keystone Studios Building, Echo Park 2015.jpg, Keystone Studios building, Echo Park - Present Day

References

External links

{{Authority control Entertainment companies established in 1912 Mass media companies established in 1912 Mass media companies disestablished in 1935 Silent film studios Defunct American film studios Film distributors of the United States Film production companies of the United States Film studios in Southern California Echo Park, Los Angeles Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Silver Lake, Los Angeles 1912 establishments in California 1935 disestablishments in California Articles containing video clips Mack Sennett

Production

Legacy

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links