1909 in film
overview of the events of 1909 in film
The year 1909 in film involved some significant events.
Events
Carl Laemmle founds the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP).
Selig Polyscope Company establish the first permanent film studio in Los Angeles in Edendale, Los Angeles.
The New York Motion Picture Company is founded and also open a film studio in Edendale. The studio is later used by Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and then Mascot Pictures, which become part of Republic Pictures.
February 4 – The Paris Film Congress begins, an attempt by leading European producers to form a cartel similar to that of the Motion Picture Patents Company in the United States.
February 26 – Kinemacolor is shown to the public for the first time in the Palace Theatre in London.
March 16 – Charles Urban forms the Natural Color Kinematograph Company.
May 12 – Mr. Flip is released, the first film to feature someone being hit in the face with a pie.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “1909 in film” is overview of the events of 1909 in film. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through film, overview and events, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “overview of the events of 1909 in film” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q519852. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1909.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1909 in film”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1909 in film primary sources, 1909 in film archive and film research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1909 in film”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1909 in film” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.