Francis Boggs
Encyclopedia
Francis W. Boggs was a stage actor and pioneer silent film
director
. He was one of the first to direct a film in Hollywood
.
, California
to George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco
and toured the American southwest
. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles
but in 1902 went to Chicago
where he continued to work in theatre. There, he met William Selig
and in 1907 Boggs became involved with the making of motion pictures at Selig's Polyscope studios
in Chicago. With cameraman and jack of all trades, Thomas Persons, Boggs made one of his earliest films, Monte Cristo. He completed the interior shots at the Chicago studio but shot the scenes of Edmond Dantès
emerging from the sea at the beach near Los Angeles.
In Chicago in 1908 he made The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
which had its writer, L. Frank Baum
present a slide show and films as a live travelogue presentation of his Oz
story. In March 1909, he returned to the west coast
where he filmed In the Sultan’s Power, one of the first motion pictures completely made in Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles in April to go on location in Yosemite
and Oakland
in California and the Hood River Valley in Oregon
. In October, Boggs returned to Los Angeles and rented a small bungalow in the Edendale
district as a permanent base from which he operated a west coast satellite studio for Selig. Other East Coast
studios soon began filming on the west coast to take advantage of its moderate climate. Among people Boggs started in the film industry
were actor-director Hobart Bosworth
, actor-director Robert Z. Leonard
, cowboy star Art Acord, and actresses Betty Harte
, Bessie Eyton
, and Bebe Daniels
. He also gave Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle his first movie work, 1909's
Ben's Kid
, and did four short film
s with him.
Boggs was shot to death by Frank Minnimatsu, a janitor and caretaker, who went berserk, on October 27, 1911. Studio owner William Selig tried to wrestle the gun away from the man and he too was shot, wounded in the arm. Ironically, that same day in 1911
, David Horsley
and Al Christie
set up their Nestor Studios
in Hollywood sounding the death knell for Edendale as the film production center of Los Angeles. Within two years more than a dozen film companies would follow Boggs' example and establish facilities in and around Los Angeles.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He was one of the first to direct a film in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
.
Biography
He was born in Santa RosaSanta Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and toured the American southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles
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...
but in 1902 went to 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...
where he continued to work in theatre. There, he met William Selig
William Selig
William Nicholas Selig was a pioneer of the American motion picture industry.-Biography:Selig was raised in Chicago. He worked as a vaudeville performer and produced a traveling minstrel show in San Francisco while still in his late teens. One of the actors was Bert Williams, who went on to become...
and in 1907 Boggs became involved with the making of motion pictures at Selig's Polyscope studios
Selig Polyscope Company
The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company founded in 1896 by William Selig in Chicago, Illinois. Selig Polyscope is noted for establishing Southern California's first permanent movie studio, in the historic Edendale district of Los Angeles...
in Chicago. With cameraman and jack of all trades, Thomas Persons, Boggs made one of his earliest films, Monte Cristo. He completed the interior shots at the Chicago studio but shot the scenes of Edmond Dantès
Edmond Dantès
Edmond Dantès is the protagonist and title character of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.Dumas may have gotten the idea for the character of Edmond from a story which he found in a book compiled by Jacques Peuchet, archivist to the French police. Peuchet related the tale of...
emerging from the sea at the beach near Los Angeles.
In Chicago in 1908 he made The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was an early attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to the motion picture screen. It was a mixture of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a lecture, while he interacted with the characters...
which had its writer, L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
present a slide show and films as a live travelogue presentation of his Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
story. In March 1909, he returned to the west coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
where he filmed In the Sultan’s Power, one of the first motion pictures completely made in Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles in April to go on location in Yosemite
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
and Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
in California and the Hood River Valley in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. In October, Boggs returned to Los Angeles and rented a small bungalow in the Edendale
Edendale, Los Angeles, California
Edendale is a historical name for a district in Los Angeles, California, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, in what is known today as Echo Park, Los Feliz and Silver Lake....
district as a permanent base from which he operated a west coast satellite studio for Selig. Other East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
studios soon began filming on the west coast to take advantage of its moderate climate. Among people Boggs started in the film industry
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
were actor-director Hobart Bosworth
Hobart Bosworth
Hobart Bosworth was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer.-Early life:Born Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth, he was a direct descendant of Miles Standish and John and Priscilla Alden on his father's side and of New York's Van Zandt family, the first Dutch settlers to land in the New...
, actor-director Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Zigler Leonard was an American film director, actor, producer and screenwriter.He was born in Chicago, Illinois...
, cowboy star Art Acord, and actresses Betty Harte
Betty Harte
Betty Harte , was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 108 films between 1908 and 1916.She was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania and died in Sunland, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Bessie Eyton
Bessie Eyton
Bessie Eyton was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in some 200 films between 1911 and 1925...
, and Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
. He also gave Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle his first movie work, 1909's
1909 in film
The year 1909 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Matsunosuke Onoe, who would become the first superstar of Japanese cinema, appears in his first film, Goban Tadanobu.*James Joyce opens the Volta, the first cinema in Dublin....
Ben's Kid
Ben's Kid
Ben's Kid is a 1909 short comedy film featuring Fatty Arbuckle. It was Arbuckle's acting debut.-Cast:* Tom Santschi * Harry Todd* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle...
, and did four short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
s with him.
Boggs was shot to death by Frank Minnimatsu, a janitor and caretaker, who went berserk, on October 27, 1911. Studio owner William Selig tried to wrestle the gun away from the man and he too was shot, wounded in the arm. Ironically, that same day in 1911
1911 in film
The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 23: D.W Griffith shows the first major close-up shot on film with the successful release of The Lonedale Operator proving his ever growing mastery of how to utilise film....
, David Horsley
David Horsley
David Horsley was an English born pioneer of the movie industry who built the first movie studio in Hollywood....
and Al Christie
Al Christie
Al Christie was a Canadian-born motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Career:Born Alfred Ernest Christie, in London, Ontario, Canada, he was one of a number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood who made their way to Hollywood, California, attracted by the newly developing motion...
set up their Nestor Studios
Nestor Studios
The Nestor Motion Picture Company was a motion picture studio/production company located in Bayonne, New Jersey, and Hollywood, California, which was owned and operated by David Horsley and his brother, William Horsley....
in Hollywood sounding the death knell for Edendale as the film production center of Los Angeles. Within two years more than a dozen film companies would follow Boggs' example and establish facilities in and around Los Angeles.