Consolidated Film Industries
Encyclopedia
Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory, and film processing company, and was the leading film laboratory in the Los Angeles
area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures and television. The company or its employees received many Academy Awards
for scientific or technical achievements.
CFI was incorporated in New York
in March 1924 by Herbert Yates
. It was reincorporated in Delaware
in 1927 by the merger of several earlier companies, including Republic Laboratories, which he bought in 1918, and the Allied Film Laboratories Association, which he formed in 1919.
The prospectus
claimed, Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. of Delaware was being incorporated to succeed a Company of a similar name formed in March 1924 under the laws of New York
, for developing of motion picture negatives, printing the necessary positives and delivering the positives as instructed by the motion picture producers or distributors, thus rendering an essential service to the motion picture industry. The Company operates six plants, known in the motion picture business as "laboratories," in New York
, New Jersey
, and California
. One of these acquired properties was the Biograph Studios
film laboratory facilities in the Bronx, New York
.
Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. was the largest concern of its kind, and is the largest purchaser of motion picture film in the world. The business has been built up on the sound foundation of quality and service at a price, in most instances, below the motion picture producer's own laboratory cost. This low price made possible through the Company's efficient and large scale operations.
Consolidated Film Industries acquired Prizma
color in 1928, and was acquired by Technicolor, Inc.
in 2000.
In movies and television which used the company's color processing, they were typically only referred to by their initials, the credit usually reading "Color by CFI".
For a time in the late eighties CFI was jokingly said to stand for "Can't Find It".
Gladys Baker, the mother of Marilyn Monroe
, worked for Consolidated as a negative film cutter; Monroe's biological father is believed to have been fellow Consolidated employee Charles Stanley Gifford.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures and television. The company or its employees received many Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for scientific or technical achievements.
CFI was incorporated in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in March 1924 by Herbert Yates
Herbert Yates
Herbert John Yates was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, famous for being the home of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers...
. It was reincorporated in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
in 1927 by the merger of several earlier companies, including Republic Laboratories, which he bought in 1918, and the Allied Film Laboratories Association, which he formed in 1919.
The prospectus
Prospectus
Prospectus may refer to:* Prospectus * Prospectus * Prospectus * Parkland College's newspaper...
claimed, Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. of Delaware was being incorporated to succeed a Company of a similar name formed in March 1924 under the laws of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, for developing of motion picture negatives, printing the necessary positives and delivering the positives as instructed by the motion picture producers or distributors, thus rendering an essential service to the motion picture industry. The Company operates six plants, known in the motion picture business as "laboratories," in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. One of these acquired properties was the Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios was a studio facility and film laboratory complex built in 1912 by the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, at 807 E. 175th Street, in the Bronx, New York....
film laboratory facilities in the Bronx, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Consolidated Film Industries, Inc. was the largest concern of its kind, and is the largest purchaser of motion picture film in the world. The business has been built up on the sound foundation of quality and service at a price, in most instances, below the motion picture producer's own laboratory cost. This low price made possible through the Company's efficient and large scale operations.
Consolidated Film Industries acquired Prizma
Prizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
color in 1928, and was acquired by Technicolor, Inc.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
in 2000.
In movies and television which used the company's color processing, they were typically only referred to by their initials, the credit usually reading "Color by CFI".
For a time in the late eighties CFI was jokingly said to stand for "Can't Find It".
Gladys Baker, the mother of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, worked for Consolidated as a negative film cutter; Monroe's biological father is believed to have been fellow Consolidated employee Charles Stanley Gifford.
Scientific or Technical Academy Awards
- 1957: To Ted Hirsch, Carl Hauge and Edward Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries for an automatic scene counter for laboratory projection rooms. (Class III award)
- 1961: To Carl Hauge, Robert Grubel and Edward Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries for the development of an automatic developer replenisher system. (Class III award)
- 1965: To Sidney P. Solow, Edward H. Reichard, Carl W. Hauge and Job Sanderson of Consolidated Film Industries for the design and development of a versatile Automatic 35mm Composite Color Printer. (Class II award)
- 1965: To Edward H. Reichard and Carl W. Hauge of Consolidated Film Industries for the design of a Proximity Cue Detector and its application to motion picture printers. (Class III award)
- 1965: To Edward H. Reichard, Leonard L. Sokolow and Carl W. Hauge of Consolidated Film Industries for the design and application to motion picture laboratory practice of a Stroboscopic Scene Tester for color and black-and-white film. (Class III award)
- 1969: To Carl W. Hauge and Edward H. Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries and E. Michael Meahl and Roy J. Ridenour of Ramtronics for engineering an automatic exposure control for printing-machine lamps. (Class III award)
- 1969: To Eastman Kodak Company for a new direct positive film and to Consolidated Film Industries for the application of this film to the making of post-production work prints. (Class III award)
- 1971: To Leonard Sokolow and Edward H. Reichard of Consolidated Film Industries for the concept and engineering of the Color Proof Printer for motion pictures. (Class II award)
- 1972: To Producers Service Corporation and Consolidated Film Industries; and to Cinema Research Corporation and Research Products, Inc. for the engineering and implementation of fully automated blow-up motion picture printing systems. (Class III award)
- 1973: To Edward H. Reichard and Howard T. La Zare of Consolidated Film Industries, and Edward Efron of IBM for the engineering of a computerized light valve monitoring system for motion picture printing. (Class II award)
- 1977: To Consolidated Film Industries and the Barnebey-Cheney Company for the development of a system for the recovery of film-cleaning solvent vapors in a motion-picture laboratory. (Class II award)
- 1982: To Leonard Sokolow for the concept and design and to Howard T. Lazare for the development of the Consolidated Film Industries' Stroboscan motion picture film viewer. (Scientific and Engineering Award)