Tales from the Archives: James K. Hackett Follow-up Research

Today's film topic post is a follow-up to last week's Tales from the Archives post about stage and silent film actor James K. Hackett. From now on I will be also posting these entries on the Archives blog! PAHRC Blog
I will also be using the scanner at the Archives so the pictures I use in future articles will be of high quality! I am really looking forward to this as it will be the best possible way to present my research.

In last week's Tales from the Archives post I mentioned that a copy of the James K. Hackett film The Prisoner of Zenda (1913) is supposedly held at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York.The Eastman House is the oldest museum dedicated to photography as well as one of the world's oldest film archives. The Eastman House holds over 25,000 motion picture titles as well as over 3 million artifacts in their collection of stills, posters, and papers.
IMDB is not exactly a reliable source, and there is already a lot of misinformation out there regarding silent era films so I wanted see if I could verify whether or not The Prisoner of Zenda (1913) does indeed survive at the Eastman House. I sent an e-mail to the Head of Cataloging and Access (Jared Case) in the Eastman House's Motion Picture Department who was happy to tell me that the film is indeed in the Eastman House archives and was preserved in the 1970s. Stills from the film can even be ordered from their website. Not only that, but for a small fee the film is available to watch at the Eastman House!
George Eastman House

                  

While I was at it, I decided on a whim to ask if any of Hackett's other films were located at the Eastman House. I could not find any information about them besides their IMDB listings, so I just assumed they were lost but figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I was surprised when Mr. Case informed me that there was a listing for "a fragment" of Hackett's film Ashes of Love (1918) at the Library of Congress! He forwarded me what little information he had, but when I searched the Library of Congress website I couldn't find any listing for this film. I then contacted the Library of Congress to get to the bottom of this new mystery. I got a response from Mike Mashon, Head of the Moving Images Section (Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress. Mr. Mashon told me that the reason I was unable to find a listing was because many of the holdings at the Library of Congress are not findable online, including "everything derived from nitrate" such as Ashes of Love. According to the LOC records, they have "one reel of what seems to be a six reel film" but it doesn't indicate which one of the six reel they have. The reel is available to be viewed at the LOC reading room in Washington D.C.

It was great able to confirm that The Prisoner of Zenda exists at the Eastman House. I was pleasantly surprised that any of Ashes of Love survives.There is almost no information about the film and as you saw it my last post, I just believed it was completely lost. Both copies of these films may be the only ones that still survive. This proves never know what you will find in archives, museums, and libraries. The records for nitrate films at the Library of Congress need to be updated, so who knows what hidden gems they have that nobody knows about.
Someday I would like to visit both the Eastman House and the Library of Congress as they sound like fascinating places. It would be interesting to see these films, especially Ashes of Love since we don't even know which reel survives at the LOC. Who knows, as someone pursuing a career in archival studies I may one day get a job at one of these places! That would certainly be a dream job for me as I'd be able to combine my passion of history with my interest in films.

On Sunday 9/4 I'll post the next weekly wrap-up.

Tales from the Archives, Part 2: James K. Hackett

This post is a follow-up to my first Tales from the Archive post which can be read here.

I am still helping out at the archives, but have completed my task of going through the parish monthly calendars. What this means is that, against all odds, I now have a plethora of primary sources relating to film history! Since I have finished collecting materials, I am now in the process of going through what I have discovered and doing further research. From now on there will be scanned pictures of the articles. This week's installment of Tales from the Archives is about stage and silent film actor James K. Hackett.

This article is entitled "A Generous Non-Catholic" and appeared in a Feb. 1927 monthly parish calendar from the Philadelphia suburbs (St. Joseph Church in Downingtown, PA). The piece praises American actor James K. Hackett for entertaining the troops in WWI. Hackett was ineligible to fight in the war due to a knee injury he sustained while performing in Macbeth (as the title character) on stage. Although Hackett was not a Catholic himself, this Catholic publication was impressed that he helped the Knights of Columbus and supported the troops by entertaining them. The article also serves as an obituary since it informs us that Hackett died in Paris on November 8th, 1926 at the age of 57.


As mentioned in the article, James Kelteltas Hackett (1869 - 1926) was an actor. His father, James Henry Hackett, was also a stage actor who was most known for his portrayal of Falstaff. James K. Hackett was born when his father was 69 years old, and the elder Hackett died two years later.  Although James K. Hackett was an American, he was actually born in Ontario, Canada and would later make his stage acting debut in Philadelphia in 1892. Like his father, Hackett made quite a name for himself as a Shakespearean actor. At the age of 43 Hackett entered the burgeoning film industry. Film mogul Adolph Zukor started the Famous Players Film Company in 1912 which brought stage actors such as Hackett and Sarah Bernhardt from the theater to the silver screen. Zukor's company grew and later merged with Jesse L. Lasky's film company to eventually became known as none other than... Paramount Pictures!

Hackett's debut film was The Prisoner of Zenda (1913) which is considered to be the first five-reel American film. The Prisoner of Zenda was based on the 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope and there have been many other films versions of the novel made since Hackett starred in the book's first film adaptation nearly a century ago. The story of The Prisoner of Zenda calls for the lead actor to play two roles, which Hackett did in the film version. I am guessing that this was one of the earliest examples of an actor playing two different characters in a movie. Although Hackett played the role on stage, he was reluctant to move into the new medium of film. According to film critic and historian Neal Gabler: "When Hackett came to visit Zukor, he was the very picture of the faded matinee idol. He wore a fur-collared coat with frayed sleeves and carried a gold-headed cane." Despite being past his prime, Hackett was convinced by Zukor to take the role. The film also featured Hackett's wife at the time, Beatrice Beckley.

According to IMDB Hackett appeared in two more films: Ashes of Love (1918) and The Greater Sinner (1919). He also co-directed one film with Lloyd B. Carleton called The Walls of Jericho (1914). IMDB says that a copy of The Prisoner of Zenda survives at Eastman House in Rochester, New York. I'd love to see a restoration of the film and home video release for historical purposes, but I won't hold my breath waiting. From what I understand it seems that Hackett's other films are lost. According to the Find a Grave website, Hackett has another fascinating connection to film history besides appearing in a  few silents: "He [Hackett] eventually formed his own theatre company in the actor-manager tradition, and at one point produced a play by the legendary film director D.W. Griffith." Although Hackett will remain best known for being a stage actor and the son of James Henry Hackett, his contribution to the early world of cinema is important. Hackett was one of many stage actors who came to film and brought legitimacy to this new form of entertainment. Hackett could also get people to the movie theater as he was a known name from the stage that could sell tickets to the cinema. As you can see in the two The Prisoner of Zenda posters featured in this article his name was used prominently as a selling point. Going back to the article for a moment, it is noteworthy for its praise of a non-Catholic at a time when the KKK was popular and prejudice towards groups such as Catholics was commonplace. Hackett was able to put religious differences aside to work with Catholics and entertain the troops, which the tone of the article seems to imply did not happen too often back then. Hackett is virtually unknown in 2011, but he was certainly a popular actor in his day and still remains an interesting historical figure.

Additional Reading:
My follow-up article about Hackett's surviving films
Wikipedia
IMDB
Find A Grave

Sunday 8/28 is the weekly wrap-up, see you then!