Montgomery County Community College - Betzwood Studios

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  • Subject = Silent films
  • Subject = Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929

About This Collection

Welcome to the Montgomery County Community College's Betzwood Collection, a part of the POWER Library: PA Photos and Documents. In the first decades of the motion picture industry Montgomery County was home to one of the largest film studios in the country. Siegmund Lubin owned and operated the Betzwood Studios along the banks of the Schuylkill River, a three hundred acre site complete with filming, production, and distribution centers. As one of the earliest film moguls, Siegmund Lubin has both regional and national significance. He was a technical innovator whose many contributions to the industry helped propel film to its position atop the entertainment industry. The collection contains film stills, publicity, correspondence, trade journals, slides, and glass plate negatives among other items. Using PA Photos and Documents in tandem with Worpress Blog site, the college seeks to tell the history of this important but forgotten player in film history.
Displaying 17 items
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Casual photograph of Louis Bennison
Casual photograph of Louis Bennison
Christie, Robert, 1896-1989, Actors, Silent films, Lubin, Siegmund, 1851-1923, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929
Photograph of Betzwood Motion Picture Studio star Louis Bennison taken by Bob Christi aka Portus Acheson.
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Lowry, Ira M., 1889-1951, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald from the movie "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Black, William, 1871-, Evans, Frank, Actors, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Lowery, Ira M., Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Louis Bennison holding William Black and Frank Evans at gunpoint from the movie "High Pockets" taken on the studio farm in Betzwood, Pennslyvania. This location is now a housing project.
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Andrew, 1886-1942, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Katherine MacDonald, Louis Bennison, and Andrew (Andy) Bennison from the movie "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Black, William, 1871-, Evans, Frank, Actors, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Louis Bennison holding William Black and Frank Evans at gunpoint from the movie "High Pockets" taken on the studio farm in Betzwood, Pennsylvania.
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Black, William, 1871-, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of William Black, Katherine MacDonald, and Louis Bennison from the movie "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
Film still from "High Pockets"
MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Ryan, Sam J., -1936, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929
Film still of Sam Ryan, Louis Bennison, and Katherine MacDonald from the movie "High Pockets"
Film still of Louis Bennison as "Lord Jim" in the servants' quarters in "A Misfit Earl"
Film still of Louis Bennison as "Lord Jim" in the servants' quarters in "A Misfit Earl"
Actors, Silent films, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Aristocracy (Social class), Servants' quarters.
Louis Bennison as "Lord Jim" in the servants' quarters in "A Misfit Earl"
Film still of Louis Bennison in "A Misfit Earl"
Film still of Louis Bennison in "A Misfit Earl"
Actors, Silent films, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Louis Bennison in "A Misfit Earl" sitting in his aunt's living room
Film still of Noah Reynolds, John Keenan, Louis Bennison, and an unknown woman
Film still of Noah Reynolds, John Keenan, Louis Bennison, and an unknown woman
Keenan, John, Reynolds, Noah, -1948, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Westerns--1910-1920.
Film still of Noah Reynolds, John Keenan, Louis Bennison, and an unknown woman
Louis Bennison
Louis Bennison
Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Actors, Silent films, Publicity stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989
Promotional photograph of Louis Bennison, the Smilin' Cowboy.
Louis Bennison
Louis Bennison
Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Actors, Silent films, Publicity stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989
Promotional photograph of Louis Bennison, the Smilin' Cowboy.
Louis Bennison
Louis Bennison
Actors, Silent films, Lubin, Siegmund, 1851-1923, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1990, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929
Promotional shot of Louis Bennison
Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald: High Pockets
Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald: High Pockets
MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Lory, Ira M., 1889-1951, High Pocket (Motion picture), General stores--1880-1920.
Film still of Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald from Betzwood Film Company's "High Pockets", 1919.
Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald: High Pockets
Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald: High Pockets
MacDonald, Katherine, 1881-1956, Actors and actresses, Silent films, Film stills, 1910-1920, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, High Pockets (Motion picture), General stores--1880-1920., Lowry, Ira M., 1889-1951
Film still of Louis Bennison and Katherine MacDonald from Betzwood Film Company's "High Pockets", 1919.
Photograph of Louis Bennison
Photograph of Louis Bennison
Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Actors, Silent films, Lubin, Siegmund, 1851-1923, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989
Louis Bennison
Photograph of the Bennison brothers, the Lowry brothers, and Bob Mackswell
Photograph of the Bennison brothers, the Lowry brothers, and Bob Mackswell
Bennison, Andrew, 1886-1942, Bennison, Louis, 1884-1929, Lowry, Ira M., 1889-1951, Lowry, Stanley, Mackswell, Bob, Actors, Silent films, Betzwood Film Company, Acheson, Portus, 1896-1989
Photograph of (L-R) Louis Bennison, Ira Lowry (Lubin's son-in-law), Stanley Lowry, Bob Mackswell (a Philadelphia sports writer), and Andrew (Andy) Bennison taken in Montgomery County, Pennslyvania at the residence where the Bennisons lived when making films at Betzwood, Pennslyvania