Independent film New York. During the Edison era of the early 1900s, many Jewish immigrants had found jobs in the U.S. film industry. Under the Edison Trust, they were able to make their mark in a brand-new business: the exhibition of films in storefront theaters called nickelodeons. Within a few years, ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack) had switched to the production side of the business. After hearing about Biograph's success in Hollywood, in 1913 many such would-be movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by
The Pilgrim (1923 film) The Pilgrim (1923 film) The Pilgrim is a 1923 American silent film made by Charlie Chaplin for the First National Film Company, starring Chaplin and Edna Purviance. The film marks the last time Edna Purviance would co-star with Chaplin and the last film he made for First National. Purviance also starred in Chaplin's "A Woman of Paris" (1923), in which Chaplin had a brief cameo. It was Chaplin's second-shortest feature film, constructed more like a two-reeler from earlier in his career. It is also noted as the first film for Charles Riesner, who became a screenwriter in his later years.