{{Short description|American film studio}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox company | name = Triangle Film Corporation | logo = Triangle Film Corporation logo, 1915.png | image = MGM Studios (00071567).jpg | image_caption = Triangle Studios, 1916 | type = Public | traded_as = | genre = | fate = Absorbed | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = July 1915 | founder = Harry and Roy Aitken | defunct = 1922 | location_city = 10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California | location_country = United States | locations = | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = Adolph Zukor <small>(Producer)</small><br><small>Filmmakers:</small><br>D.W. Griffith<br>Thomas Ince<br>Mack Sennett | industry = Film | products = | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = }}
'''Triangle Film Corporation''' (also known as '''Triangle Motion Picture Company''') was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922.
== History == The studio was founded in July 1915 by Harry and Roy Aitken, two brothers from the Wisconsin farmlands who pioneered the studio system of Hollywood's Golden Age. Harry was also D. W. Griffith's partner at Reliance-Majestic Studios; both parted with the Mutual Film Corporation in the wake of ''The Birth of a Nation''{{'s}} unexpected success that year.<ref name=Merritt2000 /> Triangle was envisioned as a prestige studio based on the producing abilities of filmmakers D. W. Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett.<ref name=Slide1994 />
The studio planned to open eight model theaters, but opened only three: the Knickerbocker in New York, the Chestnut Street Opera House in Philadelphia and the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago. They opened in 1915 and were all closed as unviable in 1916.<ref name="King">{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=Rob |title="Made for the Masses with an Appeal to the Classes": The Triangle Film Corporation and the Failure of Highbrow Film Culture |journal=Cinema Journal |date=2005 |volume=44 |issue=2 (Winter, 2005) |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1353/cj.2005.0009 |jstor=3661092 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3661092 |access-date=17 April 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Eventually, the studio suffered from bloat. By 1917, producer Adolph Zukor had taken control of all of the studio's assets.<ref name=taves /> In June 1917, Thomas H. Ince and Mack Sennett left the company and sold their remaining interests.<ref name=Kingsley /> In 1917, Triangle's distribution network of film exchanges were sold off to the W.W. Hodkinson company for $600,000<ref>Lombardi p.74</ref> ({{Inflation|US|600000|1917|r=-6|fmt=eq}}). Goldwyn Pictures purchased the Triangle Studios in Culver City in 1918.<ref name=flfs> {{Cite web | title = Studios and Films | publisher = Fort Lee Film Commission | url = http://www.fortleefilm.org/studios.html | access-date = 2011-05-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181020130551/http://fortleefilm.org/studios.html | archive-date = October 20, 2018 | url-status = dead }} </ref><ref> {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ViR3b72xkK0C&q=Fort+Lee+Birthplace+of+the+Motion+Picture+Industry|title=Fort Lee: Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry|last=Fort Lee Film Commission|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2006|isbn=0738545015}} </ref><ref> {{cite web|title=Lot History|url=http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/studio/lothistory|website=Sony Picture Museum|publisher=Sony Pictures Entertainment|access-date=February 5, 2015|page=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205172234/http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/studio/lothistory|archive-date=February 5, 2015|df=mdy-all}} </ref>
Triangle continued to produce films until 1919, when it ceased operations. Films using the Triangle name were still released to the general public until 1923.<ref name=taves />
== Selected filmography == {{Main|List of Triangle Film films}} <gallery mode=packed heights=160px> The Phantom 1916.jpg|''The Phantom'' (1916) False to the Finish.jpg|''False to the Finish'' (1917) Haunted by Himself.jpg|''Haunted by Himself'' (1917) Her Busted Debut.jpg|''Her Busted Debut'' (1917) Mystic Faces.jpg|''Mystic Faces'' (1918) Child of M'sieu.jpg|''Child of M'sieu'' (1919) </gallery>
With the exception of ''Oh, Mabel Behave'' (1922), all of Triangle's films were released between 1915 and 1919.<ref name=Imdb /> Most films were made on the West Coast, but some of Triangle's production took place in Fort Lee, New Jersey.<ref name=Koszarski />
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Merritt2000>{{cite book |last=Merritt |first=Greg |title=Celluloid Mavericks: The History of American Independent Film |url=https://archive.org/details/celluloidmaveric00merr |url-access=registration |year=2000 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |isbn=978-1-56025-232-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/celluloidmaveric00merr/page/21 21]}}</ref> <ref name=Slide1994>{{cite book|last=Slide|first=Anthony|title=Early American Cinema|edition=2nd|year=1994|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-2722-0|page=90}}</ref> <ref name=taves>{{cite book|last=Taves|first=Brian|title=Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer|year=2012|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-3422-2|page=106}}</ref> <ref name=Kingsley>{{cite news |title=Triangle Chiefs Quit; New Griffith Picture Is To Be Made On War Grounds |last=Kingsley |first=Grace |date=June 7, 1917 |work=The Los Angeles Times |page=3}}</ref> <ref name=Imdb>[https://www.imdb.com/company/co0046754/ Triangle Film Corporation (US)] from the Internet Movie Database</ref> <ref name=Koszarski>{{cite book |last=Koszarski |first=Richard |title=Fort Lee: The Film Town |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbqKqrylZT0C&pg=PA152 |year=2004 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0-86196-653-8 |page=152}}</ref> }}
== Sources == * Frederic Lombardi. ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios''. McFarland, 2013.
== External links == {{Commons category|Triangle Film Corporation}} * {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.cinematheque.fr/sites-documentaires/triangle/index.php La Triangle (1915–1919) – Cinéma : Archives, research and history] at the Cinémathèque française * {{in lang|fr}} [http://cinemarchives.hypotheses.org/1533 Strategic failure of the Triangle] – [http://cinemarchives.hypotheses.org/author/cinemarchives Marc Vernet (Cinémarchives)]
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Category:Triangle Film Corporation films Category:Silent film studios Category:Defunct American film studios Category:Film production companies of the United States Category:Film distributors of the United States Category:Film studios in Southern California Category:Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Category:Entertainment companies based in California Category:Companies based in Culver City, California Category:Mass media companies established in 1915 Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 1919 Category:1915 establishments in California Category:1919 disestablishments in California Category:1910s in California Category:American silent films by studio