Art-O-Graf

Last updated
Art-O-Graf
IndustryFilm Production and Distribution
Founded1919;105 years ago (1919)
Founder Otis B. Thayer
Defunct1923 (1923)
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado,
,
United States
The Art-O-Graf Film Company advertising Miss Arizona. (Left to right: H. Haller Murphy, Man, Man, Woman, David Townsend, Gretchen Wood, Dog, M. Jay Casey, Man, Vida Johnson, Man, Woman, Vernon L. Walker, Otis B. Thayer) Art-o-graf-group.jpg
The Art-O-Graf Film Company advertising Miss Arizona.
(Left to right: H. Haller Murphy, Man, Man, Woman, David Townsend, Gretchen Wood, Dog, M. Jay Casey, Man, Vida Johnson, Man, Woman, Vernon L. Walker, Otis B. Thayer)

The Art-O-Graf Film Company was an American film production and distribution company founded by Otis B. Thayer that operated between 1919 and 1923 during the silent era. [1] Four time Academy Awards nominee Vernon L. Walker started his career as the head cameraman for the company. [2] Cameraman, William E. Smith, previously worked for Essanay Studios in Chicago. The company had offices in the Guardian Trust Building in Denver, Colorado, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The studio was at Englewood, Colorado. [3] [4] The company also filmed in Grand Junction, Colorado and surrounding areas. Many of the films produced by the company are now considered lost, but a number still survive. Perhaps the company's best known film is Wolves of the Street , also known as The Wolves in Wall Street. [5]

Contents

Staff and crew

Board of Directors: Alden Van Epps Wessels (owner of the Steamboat Springs Orphium Theatre), Clay Henry Monson, M. Jay Casey, Otis B. Thayer, Gretchen Wood, Lucius Alfred Dick (son of Ohio Senator Charles William Frederick Dick), and David Townsend.

President and General Manager: Otis B. Thayer (1919), M. Jay Casey (1921)
Vice presidents: Gretchen Wood (1919), David Townsend (1921)
Managing Director: Otis B. Thayer
Assistant Manager/Director: Ned Jesse Pease
Scenario Editor: David Townsend (1923)
Head Cameraman: Vernon L. Walker
Cameramen: H. Haller Murphy, William E. Smith
Secretary/Treasurers: Alden VanEpps Wessels, L. Linderman (1919), David Townsend (1919)
Sales Manager: David Townsend (1920)

Rough Riders: A. E. McCormick, Babe Marshall Courvoisier, Charley S. Tipton (formerly with Buffalo Bill's Wild West), Dave Campbell (formerly with Erwin Bros. Wild West show), Fred Shaefer, Lewis Milner, Marion Milner, John Keogh, Ora Keogh, Albert Keogh, Frances Keogh, Lewis Hannan and Thomas Hannan.

Notes

Art-O-Graf Stock Certificate. (Signed by L. Linderman and Gretchen Wood) Art-o-Graf Stock Certificate.jpg
Art-O-Graf Stock Certificate.
(Signed by L. Linderman and Gretchen Wood)

In July, 1920 the company was sued for $3,000 in the Supreme Court for breach of contract by Frederick W. Eichorn, scenario writer, who had written a 15-episode serial script, Rado the Invisible, in which Anna Luther was to star. The papers were served on David Townsend who was listed as director of the defendant. [6]

In September, 1921 M. Jay Casey was arrested in Durango, Colorado for passing a fraudulent check. He claimed he had been framed to oust him from the company. [7]

In July, 1923 Mrs. Gretchen Wood was arrested. Her driver had wrecked their car into another automobile causing injury to the three passengers, after which Mrs. Wood’s home was searched and 17 cases of liquor were found.

Selected filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntley Gordon</span> Canadian actor

Huntley Ashworth Gordon was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era.

Victor Milner, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He was nominated for ten cinematography Academy Awards, winning once for 1934 Cleopatra. Milner worked on more than 130 films, including dramas, comedies, film noir, and Westerns. He worked for large production companies like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal, and Paramount during his film career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Calhoun</span> American actress (1900–1966)

Alice Beatrice Calhoun was an American silent film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle Stedman</span> American actress

Myrtle Stedman was an American leading lady and later character actress in motion pictures who began in silent films in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobart Henley</span> American actor

Hobart Henley was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He was involved in over 60 films either as an actor or director or both from 1914 to 1934.

Bernard McConville was an American screenwriter. He wrote for more than 90 films between 1915 and 1946. He was born in Denver, Colorado and died in Los Angeles County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marguerite Marsh</span> American actress

Marguerite Marsh was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1911 and 1923. Early in her career, she was known as Margaret Loveridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry T. Morey</span> American actor

Harry Temple Morey was an American stage and motion picture actor who appeared in nearly 200 films during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Townsend (art director)</span> American art director (1891–1935)

David Wood Townsend was an American art director.

<i>Miss Arizona</i> (1919 film) 1919 film

Miss Arizona is a 1919 western silent film directed by Otis B. Thayer and starring Gertrude Bondhill and James O'Neill. The film was shot in Englewood, Colorado by Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company. There is at least one known 35mm nitro copy of this film stored at Filmarchiv Austria.

<i>Wolves of the Street</i> 1920 film

Wolves of the Street is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Otis B. Thayer and starring Edmund Cobb and Vida Johnson. The film was shot in Steamboat Springs, Colorado by the Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company. Franklyn Farnum was originally cast for the lead role, but he did not appear in the completed film.

<i>The Desert Scorpion</i> 1920 American silent Western film by Otis B. Thayer

The Desert Scorpion is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by Otis B. Thayer and starring Edmund Cobb and Vida Johnson. The film was shot in Denver, Colorado by the Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company.

<i>Finders Keepers</i> (1921 film) 1921 film

Finders Keepers is a 1921 silent Western film based on a book by Robert Ames Bennett and directed by Otis B. Thayer, starring Edmund Cobb and Violet Mersereau. The film was shot in Denver, Colorado by the Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company. The film is now considered a lost film.

Out of the Depths is a 1921 American silent Western film based on a book by Robert Ames Bennet and directed by Otis B. Thayer and Frank Reicher, starring Edmund Cobb and Violet Mersereau. The film was shot in Denver, Colorado by Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company. It is now considered a lost film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis B. Thayer</span> American actor

Otis Bryant Thayer was an American actor, director, producer and owner of silent era film production companies. Before his film career he was a stage actor and operatic comedian. By 1910, he piloted the Chicago based Selig Polyscope Company filming westerns on locations at Canon City. He founded the Art-O-Graf film company of Denver in 1919. And by 1920, he was the president of the "Superior Foto Play Company."

Riders of the Range is a 1923 American silent Western film presented by Clifford S. Efelt, directed by Otis B. Thayer, and starring Edmund Cobb, Dolly Dale, Helen Hayes and Frank Gallagher. The film was shot in Colorado by Thayer's Art-O-Graf film company. It was a Roy M. Langdon Production. The film was released on VHS by Grapevine Video.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Countess Stoeffel</span> American actress

Margaret “Gretchen” Ustick was an American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Cronjager</span> American cinematographer

Henry Cronjager was a cinematographer during the early days of silent film, and was active during the beginning of the sound film era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Livingston</span> American actor (1885–1944)

Jack Livingston was a film actor in the United States. He starred in several films including alongside Jane Novak in The Golden Trail. He appeared in at least 44 feature films. His great-grandfather Philip Livingston signed the Declaration of Independence and he was also related to Robert Livingston who helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. In 1916 he was identified as Myrtle Stedman's new leading man at Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Morley</span> American actor

Jay Morley, was an American actor, active in silent films.

References

  1. ↑ "Film and Photography on the Front Range" by Pikes Peak Library District, 2012, page 129
  2. ↑ "Serial film stars: a biographical dictionary, 1912-1956" by McFarland, 2005, page 179
  3. ↑ "Katherine Anne Porter: an annotated bibliography" by Kathryn Hilt, Ruth M. Alvarez, Garland, Nov 1, 1990, page 93
  4. ↑ "The Fox plan of photoplay writing" By Charles Donald Fox, Fox photoplay institute, 1922, page 161
  5. ↑ "The best moving pictures of 1922-23" by Robert E Sherwood, Boston, Small, Maynard 1923, page 104
  6. ↑ The Film Daily (Volume 13-14) Jul-Dec 1920
  7. ↑ Pueblo chieftain., September 25, 1921, Page 8
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.