Talk:Centaur Film Company

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Clean up required![edit]

The prose in this article is very hard to read. I do not have any knowledge of the subject, so I cannot fix this myself, but it really does need a lot of attention. For example, "Bayonne, New Jersey It was then that David Horsley met a former employee of Biograph Studios, Charles Gorman" makes no sense. Aside from starting "Bayonne, New Jersey It was" the "It was then" (as the first line of text in the body) is confusing: It was when?! It sounds like this continues from something else but this is the first line. The lead, in addition to being too short, also makes little sense: "Centaur Film Company - Nestor Studios merged with Universal Studios in 1912." This doesn't explain what relationship Nestor has to Centaur. The body text does say that Centaur became Nestor before merging into Universal but the lead, which should summarise the article, is a mess. There are structural problems as well, including two different References sections. - AdamBMorgan (talk) 18:02, 2 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

References cleanup[edit]

I am moving the bullet list of references that appears on the article itself to the talk page. The formatting is confusing, and by moving the information here I hope editors can incorporate information from these resources into the article and cite it properly. Please see below. — WFinch (talk) 22:02, 12 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Early Universal City - by Robert S. Birchard
From Silents to Sound: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Performers who Made ...by Roy Liebma- Page 114 "Francis Ford, older brother of famed director John Ford, joined the Centaur film company in 1908"
The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling, and the MGM Publicity Machine - Page 11 -

"In 1913 the Centaur Film Company became the first studio to relocate everything from the East Coast to downtown Hollywood."

New York:The Movie Lover's Guide : the Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York:by Richard Alleman - Page 6
Nickelodeon Theatres and Their Music: And Their Music: by Q. David Bowers - Page 101

" The first permanent facility in Hollywood was opened by the Centaur Film Company in 1911 and was known as the Nestor Studio."

The Movies of John Ford: by Thomas Augustus Gallagher - Page 37
Gone Hollywood by Christopher Finch- Page 3 - "Horsley's Centaur Film Company, ....., merged with Universal.. "
Boyle Workman's The City that Grew: by Boyle Workman, Caroline Walker, Orpha Klinker-Page 321

" BLONDEAU TAVERN FIRST David and William Horsley, STUDIO IN HOLLYWOOD operating under the name of "The Centaur Film Company"

Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites: Sixteen Driving Tours with Directions and ...: by E. J. Fleming - Page 2

"In 1913 the Centaur Film Company was the first studio to relocate totally to Hollywood, paying $40 a month to rent the dilapidated Blondeau Tavern"

The Photographic Journal: Including the Transactions of the Royal ...: by Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, Photographic Society of London - Photography - 1969 - Page 411

" David Horsley's Centaur Film Company of New York. Later he worked for Universal, for Lasky and for Cecil B. De Mille"

City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures: by Bernard F. Dick - Page 34
Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture: by Heather Addison - Page 34 " Western (Coast) operation called " Nestor"
The Moving Picture World - Page 1457 "offices move to 46 West Twenty Forth Street, New York" - v.25 no.9 1915 Aug
The American Film Industry: A Historical Dictionary by Anthony Slide- Page 59
Bayonne by Kathleen M. by E. J. Fleming—Page 94
American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons by Blair Miller - Page 40
1,001 Places to Sell Manuscripts By William R. by Roy Liebman - Page 233
The Hollywood Story: by Joel W. Finler, Bennett Finler - Page 15
Movies of the Silent Years by Ann Lloyd, David Robinson - Page 43
From Peepshow to Palace: The Birth of American Film by David Robinson, Martin Scorsese- Page 97
The Silent Partner: the History of the American Film Manufacturing Company ... by Timothy James Lyons - Page 53
Centaur Film Company; Nestor Studios: "David Horsley Productions after 1916
Centaur Film /Nestor Ranch: Universal Ranch: Oak Crest Ranch: Lasky Ranch: "Forest Lawn Hollywood"
Centaur Film Company: Francis Ford- John Ford - 1908 - working for Universal in 1912 use Nestor/Universal/ Ranch
Chiste Film Co. - Nestor Comedies - Universal Films (1916)

Addendum: "Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street" - First West Coast Film Studio located in the District of Hollywood " Centaur Film Company (1911); Nestor Studios (1911 -1912) Universal Studios (1912-1915) - Nestor Comedies/Universal Films (1915-1916) - Christies Film Co. (1916) see Christies Film Co. (1916) Quality Film Company (1916) Nestor Film labs operations - 'Hollywood Film Enterprises- Bill Horsley Laboratory' - "Amalgamated Motion Picture Studios 1937."

In June of 1912, Nestor Studios became part of the newly formed Universal Film Company and Al Christie was put in charge of the comedy companies. He remained with Universal Film until January of 1916 at which time he and his brother, Charles Christie, formed their own movie studio named the Christie Film Company. The two rented facilities from Quality Pictures Corporation at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street, the place where Al Christie had first started in Hollywood. For the first six months of operations, the new Christie Film Company made comedies under a contract with Universal Film. In July of that year, the company began producing other comedies to sell to the independent distributors and their immediate success was such that they were soon able to finance the acquisition of their studio property. Within a short time, the Christie brothers doubled their stage capacity and constructed a film laboratory equipped with the latest in technology.

William Horsley Papers (Collection Number 540). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Includes photographs of Horsley, Nestor Motion Picture Company staff, and the opening of Universal Studios. Journals, including Motive Power, feature biographical accounts of Horsley.

Motography, vol.13 no.1, January 2, 1915. pp. 17–18. Article describing William Horsley's role in the establishment of Universal City
International Photographer, March–April 1934,
National Photographic Dealer, August 1943. Issue features William Horsley on the occasion of his 36th year in business.