Before there was Hollywood, there was Chicago
Dancing Annabelle Whitford
The city of Chicago and the film industry have shared a connection since the days of Thomas Edison. Chicago-based dancer Annabelle Whitford was chosen as one of Edison’s first film subjects, Gloria Swanson and Colleen Moore were born and discovered by Chicago-based studios, and the city was home to three of the biggest studios of the early silent period. During the 1910s, the Windy City itself was a major player in the film world, and was responsible for 20% of the total film output of the US.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be exploring Chicago’s ties to the film industry and the studios, producers and players that helped make the Midwest a movie hub. So stay tuned…
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Janelle Vreeland for Classic Movie Hub
Thank you to Janelle for this wonderful Silent Film Series. You can read more of Janelle’s articles about Silent Film and Chicago history-related topics at Chicago Nitrate or Curtains, or you can follow Janelle on Twitter at @SpookyJanelle .
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