Triangle Film Corporation (a.k.a. Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 motion-picture studio, founded in the summer of 1915 in Culver City, 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...

, and envisioned as a prestige studio based on the producing abilities of filmmakers D. W. Griffith

D. W. Griffith

David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...

, Thomas Ince

Thomas H. Ince

Thomas Harper Ince was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 films and pioneering studio mogul. Known as the "Father of the Western", he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, introducing early Hollywood to the "assembly line"...

 and Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...

. It was founded by Harry and Roy Aitken, two brothers from the Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 farmlands who pioneered the studio system

Studio system

The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1960s. The term studio system refers to the practice of large motion picture studios producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under...

 of Hollywood's Golden Age

Classical Hollywood cinema

Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the early 1960s.Classical style is...

; Harry was also DW Griffith's partner at Reliance-Majestic Studios, who had also been fired by the Mutual Film Corporation as a result the aftermath of The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...

's unexpected successhttp://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/dwgriffith.htm that year, as the film also lead to riots in major northern cities due to its racial content.

Combining production, distribution, and theater operations under their Triangle Film Corporation, the young upstarts created the most dynamic studio in Hollywood. They attracted the greatest directors and stars of the day, including Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

, Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....

, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

Fatty Arbuckle

Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...

 and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....

, and produced some of the most enduring films of the silent era, from the Keystone Kops

Keystone Kops

The Keystone Kops were incompetent fictional policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. The idea came from Hank Mann who also played police chief Tehiezel in the first film...

to the defining cinematic epic Birth of a Nation.

On November 23, 1915, the Triangle Film Corporation opened a state-of-the-art motion picture theater in Massillon, Ohio

Massillon, Ohio

Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....

. The Lincoln Theater is still an operational movie theater owned and operated by the Massillon Lion's Club. The theater has been lovingly restored to its original glory and is a monument to the memory of movies' golden era. A film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 dedicated to the films of Dorothy

Dorothy Gish

Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...

 and Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....

 is held every year in the Lincoln Theater. The Gish Sisters lived in Massillon as young girls.

Eventually the studio suffered from bloat, and in 1917 lost all three of its principal producers. Triangle gradually dwindled, and in 1918 the studio went up for sale, swallowed up by the emerging Hollywood studios. The film producer Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...

 bought the studio for the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation.

Filmography

With the exception of Oh, Mabel Behave (1922), all of Triangle's films were released between 1915 and 1919. While most films were made on the West Coast, some were shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...

 which at the time was a center for America's first motion picture industry.
1915

• Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
• Fickle Fatty's Fall (1915)
• A Game Old Knight (1915)

1916

• A Bachelor's Finish (1916)
• The Devil's Double (1916)
• His Busted Trust (1916)
• The Return of Draw Egan (1916)
• The Dawn Maker (1916)
• The Forgotten Prayer (1916)
• The Winning Punch (1916/II)
• The French Milliner (1916)
• The Patriot (1916)
• Courtin' of Caliope Clew (1916)
• Intolerance
  Intolerance (film)
  Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
  
  : Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
• The Demon of Fear (1916)
• The Dividend (1916)
• His First False Step (1916)
• Hoodoo Ann
  Hoodoo Ann
  Hoodoo Ann is a 1916 Lloyd Ingraham-directed American comedy-drama silent film, written by D.W. Griffith and released by Triangle Film Corporation.-Plot summary:Ann is a young girl who has been living in an orphanage since infancy...
  
  (1916)
• The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
• Civilization
  Civilization (film)
  Civilization is a 1916 American pacifist allegorical film about a submarine commander who refuses to fire at a civilian ocean liner supposedly carrying ammunition for his country's enemies. The film was a big-budget spectacle that was compared to both Birth of a Nation and the paintings of...
  
  (1916)
• The Primal Lure (1916)
• The Bugle Call (1916)
• Bucking Society (1916)
• His Bread and Butter (1916)
• Code of Honor (1916)
• Hell's Hinges (1916)
• The Raiders (1916)
• Bright Lights
  Bright Lights (1916 film)
  Bright Lights is a 1916 short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle* Joe Bordeaux* Jimmy Bryant* Minta Durfee* Gilbert Ely* William Jefferson* Mabel Normand* Al St. John...
  
  (1916)
• Cinders of Love (1916)
• His Hereafter (1916)
• He Did and He Didn't (1916)
• Fatty and Mabel Adrift
  Fatty and Mabel Adrift
  Fatty and Mabel Adrift is a 1916 Keystone short comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Al St. John.- Plot :The story involves Arbuckle as a farm boy marrying his sweetheart, Normand. They have their honeymoon with Fatty's dog Luke, at a cottage on the seashore. At high...
  
  (1916)
• The Desert (1916)
• His Last Scent (1916)
• His Wife's Mistakes (1916)
• Nell Dale's Men Folks (1916)
• The Other Man (1916)
• Our American Boys in the European War (1916)
• Pathways of Life (1916)
• Rough Knight (1916)

1917

• Framing Framers (1917)
• The Gown of Destiny (1917)
• A Counterfeit Scent (1917)
• Because of a Woman (1917)
• The Maternal Spark (1917)
• The Ship of Doom (1917)
• Fanatics (1917)
• The Learnin' of Jim Benton (1917)
• The Sudden Gentleman (1917)
• Until They Get Me (1917)
• For Valour (1917)
• The Regenerates (1917)
• A Case at Law (1917)
• The Fuel of Life (1917)
• Indiscreet Corinne (1917)
• The Medicine Man (1917)
• Fighting Back (1917)
• Up or Down? (1917)
• The Stainless Barrier (1917)
• Cassidy (1917)
• The Firefly of Tough Luck (1917)
• His Busy Day (1917)
• One Shot Ross (1917)
• Wild Sumac (1917)
• All at Sea (1917)
• Ashes of Hope (1917)
• A Phantom Husband (1917)
• Broadway Arizona (1917)
• His Saving Grace (1917)
• The Sultan's Wife (1917)
• The Tar Heel Warrior (1917)
• Bond of Fear (1917)
• The Devil Dodger (1917)
• Flying Colors (1917)
• Her Fickle Fortune (1917)
• His Baby Doll (1917)
• His Unconscious Conscience (1917)
• Mountain Dew (1917)
• Idolators (1917)
• Polly Ann (1917)
• The Cold Deck (1917)
• The Man Hater (1917)
• Ten of Diamonds (1917)
• Grafters (1917)
• Wooden Shoes (1917)
• A Love Chase (1917)
• Wee Lady Betty (1917)
• Golden Rule Kate (1917)
• An Even Break (1917)
• The Food Gamblers (1917)
• Master of His Home (1917)
• Borrowed Plumage (1917)
• Sudden Jim (1917)
• The Mother Instinct (1917)
• The Flame of the Yukon (1917)
• Her Excellency, the Governor (1917)
• Her Donkey Love (1917)
• A Hotel Disgrace (1917)
• A Dog Catcher's Love (1917)
• A Strange Transgressor (1917)
• His Cool Nerve (1917)
• American - That's All (1917)
• His Sudden Rival (1917)
• Dad's Downfall (1917)
• Her Torpedoed Love (1917)
• The Man Who Made Good (1917/II)
• His Marriage Failure (1917)
• The Boss of the Lazy Y (1917)
• Wheels and Woe (1917)
• The House of Scandal (1917)
• His One Night Stand (1917)
• Her Nature Dance (1917)
• His Rise and Tumble (1917)
• Villa of the Movies (1917)
• Twin Troubles (1917)
• His Criminal Career (1917)
• The Camera Cure (1917)
• Dodging His Dream (1917)
• A Dog's Own Tale (1917)
• A Laundry Clean-Up (1917)
• Done in Oil (1917)
• A Dishonest Burglar (1917)
• A Finished Product (1917)
• Her Candy Kid (1917)
• Her Birthday Knight (1917)
• Her Finishing Touch (1917)
• His Deadly Undertaking (1917)
• Heart Strategy (1917)
• Innocent Sinners (1917)
• Hobbled Hearts (1917)
• Are Witnesses Safe? (1917)
• A Berth Scandal (1917)
• A Self-Made Hero (1917)
• A Successful Failure (1917)
• When Hearts Collide (1917)

1918

• Wife or Country
  Wife or Country
  Wife or Country is a 1918 silent drama film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Harry Mestayer - Dale Barker* Gretchen Lederer - Gretchen Barker* Gloria Swanson - Sylvia Hamilton* Jack Richardson - Dr. Meyer Stahl...
  
  (1918)
• Crown Jewels (1918)
• Irish Eyes (1918)
• The Silent Rider (1918)
• Love's Pay Day (1918)
• Deuce Duncan (1918)
• The Pretender (1918)
• The Reckoning Day (1918)
• Tony America (1918)
• The Grey Parasol (1918)
• The Atom (1918)
• Desert Law (1918)
• Mystic Faces (1918)
• The Secret Code
  The Secret Code (film)
  The Secret Code is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Albert Parker and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Sally Carter Rand* J. Barney Sherry - Sen. John Calhoun Rand* Rhy Alexander - Lola Walling...
  
  (1918)
• The Mask (1918)
• Untamed (1918)
• Daughter Angele
• Wild Life (1918)
• The Ghost Flower
• High Tide (1918)
• Cactus Crandall (1918)
• They're Off
• Alias Mary Brown
• The Price of Applause (1918)
• Shifting Sands
  Shifting Sands (film)
  Shifting Sands is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Albert Parker and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Marcia Grey* Joe King - John Stanford* Harvey Clark - Henry holt - Rent collector* Leone Carton - Cora Grey...
  
  (1918)
• Beyond the Shadows (1918)
• The Golden Fleece (1918)
• By Proxy (1918)
• False Ambition (1918)
• Hell's End (1918)
• Marked Cards (1918)
• Everywoman's Husband
  Everywoman's Husband
  Everywoman's Husband is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Gilbert P. Hamilton and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Edith Emerson* Joe King - Frank Emerson* Lillian Langdon - Mrs. Rhodes...
  
  (1918)
• A Good Loser (1918)
• The Fly God (1918)
• The Painted Lily (1918)
• You Can't Believe Everything
  You Can't Believe Everything
  You Can't Believe Everything is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Patricia Reynolds* Darrell Foss - Arthur Kirby* Jack Richardson - Hasty Carson* Edward Peil Sr. - Jim Wheeler...
  
  (1918)
• His Enemy, the Law (1918)
• Station Content
  Station Content
  Station Content is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Arthur Hoyt and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Kitty Manning* Lee Hill - Jim Manning* Arthur Millett - Stephen Morton* Nellie Allen - Mrs. Morton...
  
  (1918)
• The Last Rebel (1918)
• Madame Sphinx (1918)
• The Man Who Woke Up (1918)
• High Stakes (1918)
• Old Love for New (1918)
• Old Hartwell's Cub (1918)
• Who Is to Blame? (1918)
• Her Decision
  Her Decision
  Her Decision is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Phyllis Dunbar* J. Barney Sherry - Martin Rankin* Darrell Foss - Bobbie Warner* Ann Forrest - Inah Dunbar...
  
  (1918)
• Wolves of the Border (1918)
• An Honest Man (1918)
• The Lonely Woman (1918)
• Paying His Debt (1918)
• The Hand at the Window
• Society for Sale
  Society for Sale
  Society for Sale is a 1918 silent drama film directed by Frank Borzage, starring William Desmond and Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* William Desmond - Honorable Billy* Gloria Swanson - Phylis Clyne* Herbert Prior - Lord Sheldon* Charles Dorian - Furnival...
  
  (1918)
• The Law of the Great Northwest (1918)
• Who Killed Walton? (1918)
• Her Bohemian Party (1918)
• The Love Brokers (1918)
• The Vortex (1918)
• Innocent's Progress (1918)
• Nancy Comes Home (1918)
• The Answer (1918)
• Faith Endurin (1918)
• The Hard Rock Breed (1918)
• The Sea Panther (1918)
• Heiress for a Day (1918)
• The Shoes That Danced (1918)
• From Two to Six (1918)
• Keith of the Border (1918)
• Captain of His Soul (1918)
• Real Folks (1918)
• The Hopper (1918)
• Limousine Life (1918)
• The Cast-Off (1918)
• The Gun Woman (1918)
• Her American Husband (1918)
• The Argument (1918)
• The Flames of Chance (1918)
• I Love You (1918)
• The Law's Outlaw (1918)
• Betty Takes a Hand (1918)
• His Hidden Shame (1918)
• The Man Above the Law (1918)
• Without Honor (1918)
• Caught with the Goods (1918)
• Closin' In (1918)
• Little Red Decides (1918)
• Mlle. Paulette (1918)
• The Red-Haired Cupid (1918)
• A Soul in Trust (1918)

1919

• Three Black Eyes (1919)
• One Against Many (1919)
• Mistaken Identity (1919)
• Muggsy (1919)
• Prudence on Broadway (1919)
• Upside Down (1919)
• Love's Prisoner (1919)
• The Mayor of Filbert (1919)
• The Water Lily (1919)
• Taxi (1919)
• The Follies Girl (1919)
• The Little Rowdy (1919)
• A Regular Fellow (1919)
• A Royal Democrat (1919)
• Toton the Apache (1919)
• It's a Bear (1919)
• Child of M'sieu (1919)
• Secret Marriage (1919)
• Restless Souls (1919)
• Little Miss Deputy (1919)
• The Root of Evil (1919)
• A Wild Goose Chase (1919)