Charles Christie(1880-1955)
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Charles H.V. Christie, the motion picture studio owner and real estate
developer, was born on April 14, 1880 in London, Ontario, Canada. He
emigrated to the United States with his younger brother Al to seek
employment in the film industry. Al eventually became head of comedy
production at Adolph Zukor's Universal Film Manufacturing Co. in
January 1916, Al founded his own studio, The Christie Film Co., with
his brother Charles. The brothers had a six month contract to produce
comedies for Universal.
Specializing in comedy, the Christie brothers made both features and
shorts at a production facility located at Sunset Boulevard and Gower
Street that they rented from Quality Pictures Corp. Al handled the
production end of the business, while Charles oversaw the
administration of the company. In July 1912, the company went
independent, selling their product to independent distributors. Al
Christie's comedies proved so popular the Christie Brothers were able
to soon acquire their own production facilities, and their continued
success enabled them to double their production capacity and open a
technologically advanced developing laboratory.
Christie Film made situational comedies rather than slapstick, and
sometimes they were risqué, featuring provocatively dressed young
women. Fatty Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd made their debuts with his
studio, and the Christie brothers also recruited Canadian talent,
including Marie Dressler and Marie Prevost, both of whom became
lifelong friends of the brothers. Always innovative, The Christie Film
Co. published a magazine, "Film Follies," that detailed up-coming
releases and the current goings-on at the Christie Studio.
The Christie brothers were ahead of the times in the area of
race-relations. Al had originally hired the African American Spencer
Williams as a sound technician, but discovering his writing talent, he
began using him as a screenwriter. Williams subsequently became a
pioneer in "race films" and later achieved mainstream fame portraying
Andy Brown in CBS' "Amos & Andy" television series. The Christie Film
Co. entered the race film market in early 1929, producing the first
talking pictures made for and featuring African Americans. Utilizing
the talents of Harlem's Lafayette Players Stock Co., Christie Film also
produced musical comedy shorts featuring all-black casts based on
Octavus Ray Cohen's `Darktown Birmingham' stories that were published
in the `Saturday Evening Post.' Paramount Pictures distributed the
`Darktown Birmingham' shorts.
When fellow Canadian movie pioneer Mary Pickford helped create the
Motion Picture Relief Fund in 1921 along with fellow United Artists
owners Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith, the
Christie Film Co. supported the charity, which was dedicated to helping
actors who had fallen on hard times. UA President Joseph M. Schenck was
the first president of the Fund, with Pickford serving as vice
president. The board of directors included many of the biggest names in
Hollywood, including Charles Christie, who took a major role in
administering the Fund whose mission statement was "We take care of our
own." (Under future president Jean Hersholt, after whom the
Humanitarian Oscar award is named, the Fund acquired a 48-acre plot in
Woodland Hills, California on which, in 1942, the actors' retirement
home now known as the Motion Picture & Television Country Home and
Hospital was built.
The Great Depression hurt the film industry, and the Christie Film Co.
and Christie Realty Corp. both went into receivership in January 1933.
The studio was closed, and its assets were acquired by another movie
company. Charles turned to the real estate business, and was soon
joined by his brother Al.
Charles Christie died in Hollywood on October 1, 1955 and was interred
in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
developer, was born on April 14, 1880 in London, Ontario, Canada. He
emigrated to the United States with his younger brother Al to seek
employment in the film industry. Al eventually became head of comedy
production at Adolph Zukor's Universal Film Manufacturing Co. in
January 1916, Al founded his own studio, The Christie Film Co., with
his brother Charles. The brothers had a six month contract to produce
comedies for Universal.
Specializing in comedy, the Christie brothers made both features and
shorts at a production facility located at Sunset Boulevard and Gower
Street that they rented from Quality Pictures Corp. Al handled the
production end of the business, while Charles oversaw the
administration of the company. In July 1912, the company went
independent, selling their product to independent distributors. Al
Christie's comedies proved so popular the Christie Brothers were able
to soon acquire their own production facilities, and their continued
success enabled them to double their production capacity and open a
technologically advanced developing laboratory.
Christie Film made situational comedies rather than slapstick, and
sometimes they were risqué, featuring provocatively dressed young
women. Fatty Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd made their debuts with his
studio, and the Christie brothers also recruited Canadian talent,
including Marie Dressler and Marie Prevost, both of whom became
lifelong friends of the brothers. Always innovative, The Christie Film
Co. published a magazine, "Film Follies," that detailed up-coming
releases and the current goings-on at the Christie Studio.
The Christie brothers were ahead of the times in the area of
race-relations. Al had originally hired the African American Spencer
Williams as a sound technician, but discovering his writing talent, he
began using him as a screenwriter. Williams subsequently became a
pioneer in "race films" and later achieved mainstream fame portraying
Andy Brown in CBS' "Amos & Andy" television series. The Christie Film
Co. entered the race film market in early 1929, producing the first
talking pictures made for and featuring African Americans. Utilizing
the talents of Harlem's Lafayette Players Stock Co., Christie Film also
produced musical comedy shorts featuring all-black casts based on
Octavus Ray Cohen's `Darktown Birmingham' stories that were published
in the `Saturday Evening Post.' Paramount Pictures distributed the
`Darktown Birmingham' shorts.
When fellow Canadian movie pioneer Mary Pickford helped create the
Motion Picture Relief Fund in 1921 along with fellow United Artists
owners Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith, the
Christie Film Co. supported the charity, which was dedicated to helping
actors who had fallen on hard times. UA President Joseph M. Schenck was
the first president of the Fund, with Pickford serving as vice
president. The board of directors included many of the biggest names in
Hollywood, including Charles Christie, who took a major role in
administering the Fund whose mission statement was "We take care of our
own." (Under future president Jean Hersholt, after whom the
Humanitarian Oscar award is named, the Fund acquired a 48-acre plot in
Woodland Hills, California on which, in 1942, the actors' retirement
home now known as the Motion Picture & Television Country Home and
Hospital was built.
The Great Depression hurt the film industry, and the Christie Film Co.
and Christie Realty Corp. both went into receivership in January 1933.
The studio was closed, and its assets were acquired by another movie
company. Charles turned to the real estate business, and was soon
joined by his brother Al.
Charles Christie died in Hollywood on October 1, 1955 and was interred
in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.