Norman Studios facts for kids
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| Established | 1920 |
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| Location | Arlington, Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| Type | Film |
Norman Studios, also known as the Norman Film Manufacturing Company, was an important American film studio. It was located in Jacksonville, Florida. Richard Edward Norman started the studio. From 1919 to 1928, it made silent films that starred African-American actors.
This studio is the only one left from the early days of filmmaking in Jacksonville. Today, it is the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum. Norman Studios was famous for making movies for black audiences during the silent film era. Its films showed black characters in positive and strong roles.
The studio made eight full-length movies and many short films. One of its films, The Flying Ace, has been saved and restored. It is now kept by the Library of Congress. When "talking pictures" became popular, Norman Studios changed to distributing films. Later, it closed down. In recent years, the studio buildings have been fixed up and turned into a museum. On October 31, 2016, the studio was named a National Historic Landmark.
Contents
History of Norman Studios
Jacksonville: Early Film Capital
In the early 1900s, the film industry started in New York. But filmmakers soon moved to Northeast Florida. They could keep filming there even in winter. Jacksonville became known as the "Winter Film Capital of the World." More than thirty silent film studios were there from 1908 to 1922.
Eagle Film Studios was built in 1916. This studio later became Norman Studios. The five buildings that made up the studio went out of business a few years later.
Richard Norman: A Visionary Filmmaker
Richard Edward Norman was born in Middleburg, Florida, in 1891. He started his film career in the Midwest in the 1910s. At first, he made movies for white audiences. He created "home talent" films. For these, he would travel to towns with a basic script and some film footage. He would then ask local people to act in small parts. They would film a short new scene.
These films included The Wrecker and Sleepy Sam the Sleuth. After the films were ready, they were shown in the towns. Norman shared the money earned with the town. This led him to film other events.
His first silent film with an all-black cast was The Green-Eyed Monster (1919). It was a drama about greed and jealousy. This film brought attention to his studio. Other African-American actors wanted to work with him. Norman moved to Jacksonville in 1920. He bought the studio when he was 29 years old.
Race Films: Movies for Black Audiences
During the 1920s, films made with African-American actors for African-American audiences were called "race films". Norman Studios made several of these movies. Richard Norman made race films not just for business. He also wanted to show positive stories about black people.
There were many talented black performers who could not get roles in mainstream films. Also, there was a large audience of black moviegoers. Norman Studios helped fill this need by making race films.
Some films made by Norman Studios include:
- Green-Eyed Monster (1919): A drama about railroads.
- The Love Bug (1919): A comedy.
- The Bull-Dogger (1921): A Western film.
- The Crimson Skull (1922): Another Western.
- Regeneration (1923): An action-adventure film about a shipwreck.
- The Flying Ace (1926): Norman's most famous film.
- Black Gold (1928): A drama about the oil business.
The Bull-Dogger (1921): A Western Adventure
The Bull-Dogger was Norman's first Western movie. Like other filmmakers, Norman saw the American West as a new place for movies. For black actors, the West was seen as a place of freedom. It was a land of opportunity without segregation.
This film was shot in Boley, Oklahoma. Boley was known as an all-black town. The movie starred cowboy Bill Picket, Anita Bush, and Steve "Peg" Reynolds. The story focused on action and adventure. It showed black cowboys in exciting roles.
The Crimson Skull (1922): Bandits and Heroes
Norman had planned to make three Westerns, but he only made two. The Crimson Skull was filmed at the same time as The Bull-Dogger. It also starred Pickett, Bush, and Peg. The movie was released in 1922.
The Crimson Skull tells the story of a town troubled by bandits. Their leader was called 'Skull'. Bob, a ranch hand, must save the ranch owner's daughter, Anita, and Peg. Bob joins the gang to free them. He then faces a trial called "The Crimson Skull." The bandits are caught, and Bob is rewarded. He gets money and marries Anita.
Regeneration (1923): Island Survival
Norman then made Regeneration, a sea adventure. Violet Daniels, an orphan, sails with Jack Roper. They follow a mysterious map. After a shipwreck, they are stranded on an island. They name it 'Regeneration'.
They live a story like Robinson Crusoe. They overcome their enemy, find buried treasure, and are rescued. This film was very popular. Norman used special ways to promote it. He encouraged theaters to fill their lobbies with sand to attract people.
The Flying Ace (1926): A High-Flying Mystery
The Flying Ace is the only Norman Studios film that has been saved and restored. It is kept in the Library of Congress. It was called "the greatest airplane thriller ever filmed." The movie was filmed on the ground. Camera tricks made it look like the planes were moving and flying high.
The film was inspired by aviators like Bessie Coleman. She wanted to make a film about her life. The movie's plot is about a World War I fighter pilot. He returns home to work as a railroad detective. He must solve a case involving stolen money and a missing employee. He needs to catch the thieves.
This film is the only one from that time period that still exists. The Library of Congress keeps a copy because it is very important to culture. Today, The Flying Ace is sometimes shown across the nation. Norman even built a fake plane for the film. Creative camera work made upside-down scenes. At that time, African Americans were not allowed to be pilots in the United States armed forces.
Black Gold (1928): Oil and Justice
For his last major film, Norman made Black Gold. It was about oil drilling in the American West. The story was based on a real person, John Crisp. He was a black landowner who found oil on his property in Oklahoma.
In the film, a rancher named Mart Ashton wants to invest in oil wells. His driller secretly works with another company to take over his well. Ashton is framed for robbery and put in jail. His foreman, Ace, and the bank president's daughter, Alice, team up with Peg. They work to prove Ashton is innocent. When they succeed, Ace and Alice start their future together.
Studio's Decline and New Ventures
Norman Studios stopped making race films when "talking films" became popular. Richard Norman tried to create a system to add sound to movies. He sold these units to theaters. But a new method of putting sound directly onto film came out. This made Norman's system outdated.
Filmmakers were already moving to southern California. It became the new center for movies. In 1917, John W. Martin became mayor of Jacksonville. He ran on a campaign against the film industry. He wanted to control the wild behavior of filmmakers. For example, filmmakers would film car chases on Sundays. They would also pull fire alarms to film fire trucks. Sometimes, they even accidentally caused riots.
By the 1930s, the film industry had left Jacksonville. Norman Studios then became a company that distributed films. Later, Richard Norman started showing films in the 1940s.
Gloria Norman School of Dance
Gloria Norman, Richard Norman's wife, started teaching dance in 1935. Her school was on the second floor of the main studio building. Richard felt the dancing was too loud. So, a dance floor was built in the set building. This building is now used by a church. It is the only one of the original five buildings not owned by Jacksonville today.
Gloria sold the studio in 1976. After that, the building was used by different businesses. These included plumbing services and telephone answering services.
Revitalization and Museum
Rediscovering a Hidden Gem
The Norman Studios buildings became old and run down. A local resident named Ann Burt discovered that they were once an important movie studio. She was part of a group that worked to save old places in Arlington. Burt helped bring people together to save the studio site.
Norman Studios Silent Film Museum
Three years after the effort began, the city of Jacksonville bought four of the five original buildings. This happened in April 2002. The city bought the main production building, a small cottage for costumes, a storage shed, and a building with the original power generators.
In February 2004, the city received a grant from Florida. This money helped save and restore the old buildings. The grant was used for new roofs, security lights, and a security system. A large part of the money paid architects to design the complex. They planned to turn it into the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum.
The outside of the property was restored around 2008. More money has been raised to buy the fifth building from the church. Jacksonville is working to transfer the museum to the National Park Service. If this happens, the federal government would pay to preserve and operate the buildings. This would help fix up the inside of the buildings. The city and the museum group have not been able to afford this work so far.
List of Films Produced
- Sleepy Sam, the Sleuth (1915)
- The Love Bug (1919)
- The Green-Eyed Monster (1919)
- The Bull-Dogger (1921)
- The Crimson Skull (1922)
- Regeneration (1923)
- The Flying Ace (1926)
- Black Gold (1928)
