VERY RARE:
International Feature Film Co. stock certificate for $100,000
[Equal to $3,187,061.22 in today's dollars]
Dated 1913
Handsigned by Irving C. Aitken, silent film pioneer
Irving C. Aitken was a pioneering figure in the early American film industry. He was born in 1878 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States as a child. He began his career in the film industry as a projectionist and later became a film distributor.
In 1912, Aitken co-founded the International Feature Film Company (IFF), along with his partner, William Wadsworth Hodkinson. IFF was one of the major film production and distribution companies of the silent era, and Aitken played a key role in its success. He served as the company's vice president and was responsible for overseeing production and distribution.
Under Aitken's leadership, IFF produced and distributed many successful films, including the popular serials "The Exploits of Elaine" and "The New Exploits of Elaine." The company also made a number of feature films, including the Westerns "The Covered Wagon" and "The Iron Horse."
Aitken was known for his shrewd business sense and was a key player in the development of the Hollywood studio system. In 1923, he left IFF to become the vice president and general manager of the newly formed Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC), which was created by a group of Hollywood producers to challenge the dominance of the major studios.
Aitken continued to be involved in the film industry throughout the 1920s and 1930s, working for a number of different studios and production companies. He passed away in 1956 at the age of 78, leaving behind a legacy as a key figure in the early American film industry.
The International Feature Film Co. (also known as the "IFC") was an American film production company that was founded in 1913 by Harry E. Aitken, a former executive of the film distribution company Mutual Film Corporation. Aitken had been one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), a trust that controlled most of the film production and distribution in the United States at the time. However, he eventually grew dissatisfied with the MPPC's strict control over the industry and decided to strike out on his own.
The IFC quickly established itself as a major player in the film industry, producing and distributing high-quality feature films. The company tarted out with such films as At the Risk of His Life, Buried Alive in a Coal Mine, and Treasure Hunters Lost in the Heart of Africa.
In 1915, the company merged with two other film production companies, the World Film Corporation and the Continental Features Corporation, to form the World Film Corporation, with Aitken as its president.
Under Aitken's leadership, the company produced and distributed many successful films, including the 1915 adaptation of the novel "The Birth of a Nation," which was controversial for its depiction of African Americans and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. The film was a financial success, but its content and message led to protests and boycotts.
The company continued to produce and distribute films throughout the 1910s and 1920s, but it struggled to compete with the major studios as the industry became more consolidated. In 1924, the company went bankrupt and was dissolved.
Despite its relatively short existence, the IFC played an important role in the early history of American cinema. Its focus on producing high-quality feature films helped to establish the feature-length film as the dominant form of cinema, and its early successes laid the groundwork for the Hollywood studio system that would emerge in the following decades.
The certificate was issued to A. M. Kennedy who was the head of Kennedy Features studio. His studio and International Feature Film shared the same studio lot.