These films had instant appeal and were
shown continuously theatres while the war was fought. The
impending Spanish-American War had caught the imagination of
the American public, with the help strident nationalism of
the Hearst yellow press, and gave considerable boost the
movie business. All needed good
projector, and the West Orange industrial complex was ready to
. William Paley was sent Cuba make war
films for the Edison company who quickly copyrighted them and
put them the market. The
American Vitascope Company staged the Battle Manila with
model ships for their films the war, advertising them as
32
"original and exclusive war films. William Paley, for example, was put
under contract supply films for the Edison enterprise.
The motion picture camera changed politics well as
entertainment.VII-23
production facilities the industry, could not keep up
with the demand for films and had turn independent
producers supply them. The wave
of patriotism that swept the country helped increase the
numbers film exhibitors rapid rate." For American Vitascope
and many other small producers and film exhibitors, like
William Selig Chicago, war was good for business. The
great popularity war films enabled many small producers to
gain foothold the industry, either filming their own
subjects illegally copying (duping) the Edison product. America's "Manifest Destiny" was glorified on
film, and Edison— like many his generation— believed that
his country could take and beat the rest the world
