The Elusive Eastern Film Corporation of Providence, Rhode Island: Resurrecting a Footnote in Film History

Adam Tawfik, Rhode Island College

Abstract

Eastern Film Corporation was a local studio but its films were distributed and screened throughout New England with the exception of Rhode Island. At least twelve of its films, of various genres, which seemed to have generous budgets for size of the studio, have survived. Eastern’s prime years of business were brief, 1915-1917. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the building in 1917 and the expenses it would cost to repair it too high for its original founder, Frederick S. Peck, a wealthy Barrington politician. Nevertheless, the studio staggered on throughout the 1920s.