At the FBO Ranch

"Born to Battle" 1926, filmed at FBO Ranch

Heading west on Sunset Boulevard towards the East Pacific Coast Highway in California, one might guess that the modern developed land was once a popular location where movie production companies filmed in the great outdoors. The guess is of course correct, upon observing the view of the ocean, the Santa Ynez Canyon and beach, which was once raw land home to a number of filming sets four miles north of Santa Monica. At the entrance of the Santa Ynez Canyon is where the Robertson-Cole Ranch once stood: production sets and facilities for westerns, including stables for horses. This ranch encompassed the beach, part of the ocean, a river, mountain, plains, and a hamlet. Perhaps not surprisingly, this beautiful landscape was used by previous Hollywood film production companies, long before it was known as the FBO Ranch where Tom Tyler would travel each filming day to mount his horse and work for the cameras.

Historically, this same piece of land was used for silent film exteriors by director Thomas Ince of the New York Motion Picture Company. Ince bought the 460 acres of land in 1912 that makes up Santa Ynez Canyon, then leased an additional 18,000 acres into the Santa Monica Mountains, or seven miles of land, just for filming movies on. Due to the topography, the land became suitable for all types of film genres, including westerns and dramas which called for an exotic locale like “Kismet” (1920). Appropriately named Inceville, all types of buildings and stages were assembled. Restaurants, a commissary, office buildings, wardrobe, and enough dressing rooms for the 500 plus people who worked and filmed here.

In 1917, Ince sold the original 460 acres to western star William S. Hart, who named it Hartville. By 1920, Robertson-Cole bought the land from Hart and named it the Robertson-Cole Ranch. An article on the purchase of the ranch property is described in detail in The Moving Picture World, June 26, 1920. Harry R. Hough was in charge of the ranch, and in 1922, Robertson-Cole reorganized as Film Booking Offices with Joseph P. Kennedy as President of the company. Tom Tyler must have enjoyed filming in the location, the land reminding him of the hamlet in upstate New York where he was born, Port Henry, by Lake Champlain. It is not wrong to say that Tom filmed while in the Pacific Ocean, strong swimmer that he was, capable of escaping a ship off land once he finished fighting a group of bandits, as he did in “Born to Battle” (1926). In this silent film, Tom swims to the beach and lands in front of a building designed to resemble a school – in the story, a girl’s school, where a bevy of beauties see him emerge from the ocean like a merman, all dripping wet. The cliff and river on the FBO ranch provided the setting for “The Wyoming Wildcat” (1925) and “The Cowboy Musketeer” (1925), and once again the beach in “Wild to Go” (1926).

A view of Inceville, from Movie Pictorial, September 1915

Nowadays, the very town where Tom Tyler filmed his earliest silent films for FBO is called Inceville, and the neighborhood to its immediate south, Pacific Palisades, and to the northwest, Palisades Highlands. Largely an affluential region where many actors and musicians live, the once glorious film production sets that thrived here are now long gone.

The History of Film Booking Offices, America, Inc.

Most Tom Tyler fans know that his major break in film as a leading man was with Film Booking Offices America (FBO) in 1925. The history of this film production company dates back to December 15, 1919 when Robertson-Cole Corporation, a British-American film distribution company, eventually reorganized in 1922 as FBO. Robertson-Cole was created by Harry F. Robertson and Rufus S. Cole, two enterprising young men whose vision of having a film distribution company would eventually lead to one of the most successful production companies by the end of the silent film era.

As one of the first moves in getting this new film distribution company off the ground, an office location was pertinent. New York City seemed like the logical city to base the company from, and in March of 1920, the first office building for the Robertson-Cole production company was erected in New York City, a twelve-story building at the north-east corner of Seventh Ave. and 48th St. The building is still there today in its original location, with the unmistakable R-C letters upon a shield, inside a circle, emblazoned on the brick building. The symbol is distinct in that multiple copies of the logo are evenly spaced around the building facing the two streets. The building is now home to retail businesses.

from Exhibitors Herald, Dec. 25, 1920

By July 1920, the west coast office of Robertson-Cole in Los Angeles, California started being built, and was completed in November of that year. December of that year saw the one-year anniversary of the company, and an inspiring Christmas message from the company’s Vice President and General Manager, A. S. Kirkpatrick, on the growth of the film industry, which appeared in the Exhibitor’s Herald December 25, 1920 issue. By 1921, Robertson-Cole operated company exchange offices across the United States and began producing films in addition to distributing them. 

With its new production company and ranch in Hollywood where many a silent film western was made, Robertson-Cole had reason to celebrate and be granted so much attention in the Hollywood trade publications. One of the biggest feature films distributed by Robertson-Cole was “Kismet” from 1920, now considered a lost film. It starred Otis Skinner and Rosemary Theby and transported the audience to the Middle East. Based on the play of the same name by Edward Knowblock, the film was successful largely due to the amount of promotion it received in Boston during its premiere, due to Joseph P. Kennedy’s involvement.

Executives at Robertson-Cole took a firm stand in not operating any cinemas unless they were forced to do so, in order to avoid a monopoly, and concentrate instead on fair competition in Hollywood. This was made clear during the June 1920 Exhibitor’s Convention in Cleveland, a time when some production-distribution companies were moving into the field of actually owning a cinema, such as Paramount. Furthermore, by the time Joseph P. Kennedy became owner of Film Booking Offices of America, Inc. in 1926, the company still maintained this unique policy. Close to home in Boston as always, Kennedy made sure he had an office in the city, located at 87 Milk St. Perhaps most importantly, the type of silent films produced by FBO, in accordance with the company’s exhibitor’s advisory board, produced family-friendly movies as an alternative to the majority of adult-themed movies made by Fox, Universal, or Metro Goldwyn Mayer. With the plethora of FBO films released across the nation and in Europe, children could easily be sent off by their parents on the weekend to the matinee for a nickel admission price, knowing their children were viewing safe, wholesome entertainment. With movies starring actors like Fred Thomson, Tom Tyler, and Tom Mix, among others, they became all the more appealing to American youth. 

Over the next few years, Kennedy remained involved with Robertson-Cole until the company reorganized in late 1922, taking on a new company name, Film Booking Offices of America, Inc. Both Robertson and Cole left the film industry at this point. Kennedy remained a board member of FBO, finally purchasing the company in January 1926.

Motion Picture News dated November 24, 1923 reported a rather unusual move by FBO as a film production company. For the first time in film history, an exhibitors’ advisory board was established by FBO, primarily to grant exhibitors across the nation - and fifty of the most prominent ones in America made up the board - the power to say what kind of movies they wanted to see and have exhibited in their own cinemas. Essentially, FBO did not produce movies until the exhibitors read a copy of the submitted film story upfront and approved of it. Once a story was approved, FBO then proceeded in the making of the film. Thus the purpose of this exhibitors advisory board was twofold: it put FBO as a film production company in direct touch with the public, and it increased profitability for the company. Moreover, exhibitors also played an active role with cinema patrons, most likely by distributing surveys to them upon attending a silent film. With this survey information, the exhibitors on the board would use it to evaluate against the stories sent to them by FBO. Such a highly innovative marketing tactic proved effective, for it was a win-win situation for everyone. 

from Moving Picture World, April 11, 1925

By 1924, FBO still remained heavily interested in the promotion of their movies in Europe and Asia. Company Vice President Joseph I. Schnitzer evaluated reports on the success of FBO films in western European nations, which in turn led to the popularity of many of the company’s silent film stars in Europe, especially Fred Thomson and Tom Tyler. That same year, Film Booking Offices expanded their production company on the corner of Melrose Ave and Gower St. at a cost of $100,000.00. Along with a $5,000.000.00 program, which covered filmmaking equipment and studio care, FBO was well on its way to becoming one of the most important film production studios of the 1920’s which specialized in low-budget photoplays but highly engaging entertainment. In 1929, the company reorganized once again to become RKO, also known as one of the “Big Five” film production companies of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

While the majority of silent films produced by FBO remain lost, a small percentage have survived, existing in film archives in Europe, or on DVD, such as “The Texas Tornado” from 1928 starring Tom Tyler. Even more have been “preserved” in the form of film booklets, such as the Biblioteca Films ones published in Spain during the late 1920’s to early 1930’s. One FBO silent film "A Regular Scout" starring Fred Thomson and written by F. Buckleigh Oxford, was reproduced in story format in the newspaper Daily Clarion-Ledger, Jackson. Mississippi, January 25, 1927, complete with illustrations of scenes from the silent film.