John Arthur Nelson was a director, actor, and writer.[1] Nelson wrote, acted in, and directed more than a dozen short films in 1913 and 1914, including a series of Slim Hoover films in which he portrayed the title character. He wrote pro-labor union and anti-America Plan / open shop book The New Disciple and supervised production of the film of the same name that was based on it in 1921.[2]
He was U.S. Film Corporation's Vice-President and headed the Nelson Film Company. In 1915, he was arrested for misappropriating stockholder funds.[3] In 1916 he was sued for non-delivery of the film Slim and the Mummy.[4] In 1917, he tried to establish Dominion Film Company in Victoria, Canada but officials refused to give him land for the business.[5]
In 1920, he got funding for a labor backed film company he headed. It was to produce pro-labor union films.[6]
He corresponded with Samuel Gompers.[7]
Filmography
edit- Slim Becomes a Detective (1913)
- Slim's Last Trick (1914)
- Slim Becomes a Cook (1914)
- The New Disciple (1921), writer and film production supervisor
References
edit- ^ Ross, Steven J. (September 29, 1999). Working-class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691024642 – via Google Books.
- ^ James, David E. (May 30, 2005). The Most Typical Avant-Garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520242586 – via Google Books.
- ^ Slide, Anthony (February 25, 2014). The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Routledge. ISBN 9781135925543 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Reports of cases determined in the district courts". September 29, 1922 – via Google Books.
- ^ Morris, Oeter (August 6, 1992). Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema, 1895-1939. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 9780773560727 – via Google Books.
- ^ Frank, Dana; Dana, Frank (January 28, 1994). Purchasing Power: Consumer Organizing, Gender, and the Seattle Labor Movement, 1919-1929. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521467148 – via Google Books.
- ^ Ross, Steven J. (3 January 2000). Working-class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America. ISBN 0691024642.