Kalem Company

Credits

Descriptions by
naxo-olé

Captures by
naxo-olé

Video captures courtesy of
Logo Archive Collection Company

Background

The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem was sold to Vitagraph Studios in 1917.

Logo (December 7, 1907-February 24, 1917)

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Visuals: On a black background, there is a white circle which contains a sun at the bottom right corner of the screen. The sun contains "KALEM", and its rays spin around it. Suddenly, a pencil writes "Kalem.", and finally disappears.

Variants:

• On the opening titles of The Hazards of Helen, the print logo appears below, surrounded by plant motifs.
• At the beginning of films, the print logo appears below the title card.
• There is a variant where the print logo is present on screen.

Technique: Traditional animation.

Audio: None. On The Hazards of Helen, the opening theme of the film plays.

Availability:

• Seen on films made by the company, such as Ben-Hur (1907), The Girl Spy, The Colleen Bawn, You Remember Ellen, and The Hazards of Helen.
• The print logo was so far only seen at the end of current prints of The Hazards of Helen episode The Leap from the Water Tower.