Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
founded by the Johnson brothers in 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
; it was incorporated in 1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Among the first organized black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
filmmakers, it became the first producer of so-called "race movies". The company stated its purpose was to "encourage black pride" while upholding the social order of the period. It wanted to correct the distortions portrayed in white films while accurately depicting black reality and fostering a positive black image. Lincoln Motion Picture Company produced mostly family-oriented pictures in its three shorts and two feature-length films.
History
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was founded in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, which had built up a black community, mostly of workers attracted to its industrial jobs. The brothers George and Noble Johnson
Noble Johnson
Noble Johnson was an African American actor and film producer.-Biography:Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player...
founded the company in the summer of 1915 to produce films for African-American audiences..
Noble was a small-time actor, and George worked for the post office in a federal civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
job. In 1915, Noble Johnson became president of the company; Clarence A. Brooks, secretary; Dr. James T. Smith, treasurer, and; Dudley A. Brooks was assistant secretary. Lincoln Films quickly built a reputation for making films that showcased African-American talent in the full sphere of cinema. In less than a year the company relocated to Los Angeles.
On 20 January 1917, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company was incorporated in California with a capitalization of $75,000. At the time, the officers of the company were Noble M. Johnson, president;Dr. James Thomas Smith, who was the vice-president and treasurer; Clarence A. Brooks, secretary; Dudley A. Brooks, assistant secretary; and Willes O. Tyler, attorney. The only white member of the organization was Harry Gant, cameraman, a personal friend of Noble Johnson who had worked with him at Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
. Noble Johnson kept his job at Universal and operated Lincoln on the side. In 1918, his brother George P. Johnson became general booking manager handling all correspondence and newspaper advertising.
"The Realization of a Negro's Ambition"
Lincoln's first two-reel feature film release was The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (19161916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
), Drama; following is the storyline:
- "James Burton, is a TuskegeeTuskegee UniversityTuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
graduate who leaves his father's farm and his girlfriend. Burton's departure allows him to seek his fortune out West on the California oil fields. When he arrives in California, Burton is denied an oil drilling job because he is black. This is the major conflict in the film, but Burton surmounts it by saving the life of a wealthy white oilman's daughter. The father rewards him with a job. Later, the owner discovers that Burton has a degree in civil engineering and makes Burton the head of an oil expedition. Through a series of discoveries, Burton realizes that the geological features of his father's farm resemble those of the California oil fields. He returns home, becomes wealthy through his discovery of oil on family land, and weds his hometown sweetheart."
The actor who played Burton was the popular Noble Johnson. The supporting cast included Beulah Hall, Lottie Boles, Clarence Books, Gertrude Chrisman, Bessie Mathews, and George W. Reed.
"Trooper of Company K"
The first film was highly successful, and the Lincoln company prepared for a larger and better second production. At the time, 1916, the public's attention was focused upon the "Carrizal Incident" which occurred during the Mexican ExpeditionPancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa...
. The incident involved a battle in which Troops K and C of the "famous fighting 10th" United States all-black cavalry were nearly wiped out. To take advantage of the publicity, Lincoln decided that its next release would be based on that famous battle.
The Trooper of Company K (1917
1917 in film
The year 1917 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Foundation of Universum Film AG , as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced...
) was a Western adventure. Lincoln was able to hire a number of ex-troopers of the 9th and 10th cavalries. The company rented supplies and uniforms and guns from other firms in Hollywood. Lincoln used more than 300 extras in the production. Noble Johnson (Joe), Beulah Hall (Clara), and Jimmy Smith (Jimmie) starred in the film. Following is the plot:
- "Shiftless" Joe buys flowers for Clara, a high school girl of a good family who, because of a kind act of his, has taken a charitable interest in him; she advises him on bettering his life. Jimmy, an ardent admirer of Clara, is given good clothes and spending money by his mother's work as a laundress, and he is quite a favorite among his friends. Jimmy is not pleased with Clara's interest in Joe and ignores him. Clara encourages Joe to get a job, but he is late to work because of helping animals. Anxious to make good, Joe becomes excited and makes a botch of the whole affair; the foreman fires him. Joe seeks Clara to tell of his ill luck, and finds her with Jimmy at home. She is disappointed but Jimmy is disgusted. Clara suggests that he enlist as a soldier, which Joe does.
- Several months later, Joe is part of Company K of the Tenth Cavalry near Casas Grandes, Mexico. Jimmy at home is trying to woo Clara. Joe has won the heart of his Captain by his good nature and care of his horse. Company K and Company C are drawn into a fight with Mexican troops at Carrizal. Joe acts as a hero during the fight, rescuing his wounded Captain and ensuring their escape. Reading about him, Clara denounces Jimmy for having made false accusations about the soldier. Decorated for bravery and recommended for promotion, Joe returns home on leave to be welcomed by Clara with open arms."
Trooper of Company K opened its first engagement at the all-black theatre, the New Angelus, in Los Angeles in 1917, with a week's run to a near-capacity house. It played to capacity houses from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Oakland. In New Orleans it broke all records and was shown to mixed audiences at the New Ivy and People's Theatres, two white theatres which had never before shown a film produced by and featuring blacks.
Competition
In the mid-1910s, several members of the black community established their own film studios. The increased cost of movie making in the 1920s and the widespread economic effects of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
forced most independent black film producers out of business. The African-American community did not have the financial resources, especially in hard times, to sustain independent black film enterprises.
Closure
In 1923, the company announced that its next production would be The Heart of a Negro, to feature Clarence Brooks, Edna Morton, and Lawrence Chenault. A few weeks after this announcement, Lincoln Motion Picture Company discontinued operations. George P. Johnson completed 37 years as a postal employee. He compiled an extensive collection related to blacks in the movie business, which is now held by the UCLA Research Library. Noble M. Johnson (1881–1978), continued his acting career and appeared in more than 140 movies from 1915–1950.Filmography
- The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (19161916 in filmThe year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
) - Trooper of Company K (19171917 in filmThe year 1917 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Foundation of Universum Film AG , as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced...
) - The Law of Nature (19171917 in filmThe year 1917 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Foundation of Universum Film AG , as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced...
) - A Man's Duty (19191919 in filmThe year 1919 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists...
) - By Right of Birth (19211921 in film-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...
)