[A fascinating group of nine original photographs capturing filming on location in Louisiana, and Christmas Party activities from the Kalem Moving Picture Company in 1906].

Item Details

[New York, NY:, Kalem Moving Picture Co.,, ca. 1906]., N/A

N/A, VG-

KLEINE, George, CLOUGH, Arthur F.[orrest] (Property Manager).] Nine original silver gelatin photographs on thin glossy photo stock, pencil annotations by Clough on versos of all nine photos, 8 sized 9.5 x 7.5 in., and 1 sized 4.5 x 7.5 in. (minor chipping & edgewear to a few corners, a couple w/ pinholes at corners, a couple w/ minor over-exposure), still a VG set of images.

A very scarce group of original location production stills for 1906 Kalem Moving Picture Co. 1-reel silent films which at the time ran about 10-15 minutes, depending on footage and camera speed. The Kalem Moving Picture Co. was first formed in 1905 by George Kleine, Samuel Long, and Francis J. Marion in 1905, and operated until 1907 when they reorganized as Kalem Co., Inc., and would continue as an independent studio until purchased later by the Vitagraph Company of America. These three men along with their general manager and director Sidney Olcott pioneered the early success of shooting films on location, as they had no indoor studios initially. These intriguing photos presumably for either lost, or unreleased films capture Gene Gauntier, Jack Clark, & Carlyle Blackwell filming in the Louisiana Bayou with actors seemingly in Cajun dress; an historical film with actors in French Louis XVI/French Revolution-era costume; and three images of a possible Louisiana Civil War-era plantation drama with pencil annotations on versos misidentifying Carlyle Blackwell, and Jack Clark as William S. Hart, playing opposite Gauntier. The smaller image captures an actor in blackface, clearly in a period drama setting, but no location annotations on verso. Their early filmography is quite scarce, and apparently some of the early one-reeler silent films are both lost, and no record of some titles. 

Although only grouped with those marked “Louisiana Bayou on location,” three of the photos refer to a Kalem Moving Picture Co. Christmas Party, with one photo revealing the actors and actresses all in pajamas, another with them standing next to the Christmas tree, next to a wood burning stove, presents with “Kalem” advertising atop the stack, and Sidney Olcott & Gene Gauntier standing to the left, with Hazel Neason seated, and possibly Jane Wolfe, and Marian Cooper arrayed behind. The final image depicts the group at a crawfish boil, campfire burning in the foreground. Clark (1879-1947) was recruited by Sidney Olcott for Kalem Studios during the silent film era, and traveled through 24 countries, becoming one of the first American film stars to film on location. Gauntier (1885-1955) was a pioneering writer, director, and actress in silent films from 1906 to 1920, writing screenplays for 42 films, and performing in 87, who launched her career with Biography in their 1906 one-reeler “The Paymaster,” and then recruited by Olcott and Francis Marion to join Kalem, where she became known as the “Kalem Girl.” Blackwell (1884-1955) was a noted silent film actor, director and producer whose early film career remains un-cited as Kalem Moving Picture Co., but is clearly depicted in their early advertising trade literature as one of “The Kalem Players” along with Clark and Gauntier. Clough (1868-1918) was a noted house & sign painter out of Saratoga, NY, and New Hampshire, who also was recruited to build sets, and was property manager with Biograph, and then Kalem. See: Dwight Earl Long, Sam Long and Pioneering Silent Film Studio, Kalem (Feb. 26, 2024); Gretchen Bisplinghoff, Gene Gauntier, Women Film Pioneers Project, Columbia University Libraries (2013); Carl Bennett, Kalem Film Manufacturing Co., Progressive Silent Film List (2026).