Until 1921, the Fleischers' Koko films were released through Bray Studios.

Max and Dave Fleischer launched Out of the Inkwell Studios, Inc. in 1921.

Red Seal released Koko films starting in 1923

From Exhibitors Trade Review, February 1924

The Fleischers' early Koko cartoons were released through Bray Studios, where Max was working as an artist and production manager. But in 1921, Max left Bray and, with his brother Dave, formed their own animation studio: Out of the Inkwell, Inc. The new studio signed a distribution contract with Margaret Winkler, the first female distributor of animated films. Building on the success of their already popular, and very much in demand, Koko films Max and Dave were quickly able to establish their fledgling studio on the animation landscape.

Their success was so rapid that, between 1921 and 1923, they moved Out of the Inkwell Studios from its initial location, a small basement apartment in midtown Manhattan, to larger quarters at 129 East 45th Street before moving, in 1923, into a space at the Studebaker Building at 1600 Broadway, just off Times Square.

During this period Max and Dave decided that, in addition to having their own animation studio, they should have their own film distribution company as well. By serving as both the producers and the distributors of their work, the Fleischers saw an opportunity to increase their control over the promotion, release and sale of their films, as well as the opportunity to expand their efforts to include live-action featurettes.

In 1923, Max and Dave partnered with Edwin Miles Fadiman (an experienced film distributor, who served as the company's President),  Lee de Forest (an early innovator of sound on film), and Hugo Riesenfeld (a composer of music to accompany silent films) to form their own distribution company, Red Seal Pictures. 

An advertisement for Carrie of the Chorus

The slide show below includes production stills and promotional shots, as well as a handful of rare, personal photos from the Fleischer Family archives offering a glimpse of life on the set of their live action featurettes.

ANOTHER BOTTLE DOCTOR

Another Bottle, Doctor may be the only surviving film from the Fleischer’s live action comedies. This silent, 24-minute-long featurette was part of their ‘Back Stage Comedy’ series, also sometimes called the ‘Carrie of the Chorus’ series. 

THE PLOT: Dr. Croaker runs a quack sanitarium for an entrepreneurial undertaker. Their thriving enterprise is threatened by the arrival of a traveling medicine show selling an amazing elixir. Every male in the story falls for Peggy, a chorus girl who is part of the medicine show. Between competing for Peggy’s heart, and trying to de-bunk the elixir, all kinds of hijinks follow. 

(Archival Film and Video materials from the Collections of the Library of Congress in cooperation with the National Archives of Canada Audio-Visual Section- Visual and Sound Archives.)

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An advertisement for a new Koko film released by Red Seal during its Albert Weiss years.

Working together, the two companies, Red Seal and Out of the Inkwell, committed to an ambitious schedule of productions and releases. In addition to the already popular Koko and Car-tunes films, they released live-action featurettes, including a popular series of two-reel “backstage” showbiz comedies. Red Seal also released films exploring more serious subjects including a very popular film the Fleischers made offering an explanation of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity for general theater audiences and a film explaining the work of Darwin. 

As one can imagine, with Max and Dave holding leadership positions in both organizations, and staff from one company sometimes working for the other, there was extensive overlap between Red Seal and Out of the Inkwell. Looking back at the films produced during this period it can be difficult to determine where one company ended and the other began.

Soon, even with its own releases and the studios' ever expanding staff, Red Seal found itself unable to meet its demanding release schedule. In an effort to keep its commitments, Red Seal purchased films from small independent producers and released them under the Red Seal name. Unfortunately, these films often didn't perform very well. In the words of Max’s son, Richard, who writes about this period in his book Out of the Inkwell, “It seems like the more Red Seal bought, the more it lost.” 

To make things even worse, the company’s ever-increasing overhead costs were leading to ever-increasing disagreements with Fadiman, who ultimately quit. Further compounding problems was Lee de Forest, who seemed to be a magnet for patents lawsuits and was finally forced to file for bankruptcy. It wasn’t long before Red Seal couldn’t pay its bills. Finally, the film laboratory that processed their films refused to release their negatives until they were paid. By 1926, Red Seal was broke. 

That would have been the end of it all… had it not been for Alfred Weiss. 

As Max's son Richard recounts in his book Out of the Inkwell:

No one seems to know where Alfred Weiss came from, but in November 1926, shortly after Max asked for the appointment of a receiver in bankruptcy, Weiss crawled out of the woodwork and offered to take over Red Seal and Inkwell, pay their bills, and put them back in business. He seemed heaven-sent. He wasn’t…. Weiss became the president of both Red Seal and Inkwell. Max was hired as vice president and Dave as art director, at salaries of two hundred dollars a week each…

Rather than rebuild Red Seal, Weiss abandoned it completely, and signed the studio to a distribution contract with Paramount Pictures instead. He went on to change the name of the studio to “Inkwell Studios,” renamed the “Out of the Inkwell” film series “Inkwell Imps,” and gave himself a large “presented by” screen credit on every film.  

Understandably, Max and Dave found it impossible to work for Weiss and both ended up quitting the company they had founded. Weiss himself resigned shortly thereafter and ended up declaring bankruptcy. 

That would have been the end of it all… had it not been for Frank Goldman.

Just as the Fleischers were at their lowest point with absolutely no hope of rebuilding all they had lost, an old friend of Max’s, Frank Goldman, who was the co-owner of the Carpenter-Goldman film-processing lab on Long Island, heard about the brothers’ situation and offered them and their staff FREE work-space for as long as they wanted.

In his book, Out of the Inkwell, Richard Fleischer, who was thirteen at the time, shares his very vivid memory the day his father returned home to share this remarkable news of Goldman’s generous offer:

My mother sat there dumbfounded for a moment, then slowly put her hands to her mouth and started to cry. My father stood there, his lower lip trembling, his eyes blinking as they filled with tears. She got up and embraced him. He was now laughing and crying at the same time, and so was she.”

Early April 1929, while still in their temporary Carpenter-Goldman film-processing lab on Long Island, Max launched a new studio: ‘Fleischer Studios.’ In spite of the debacle with Alfred Weiss, Max was able to his maintain his good name, and a good relationship with, Paramount Pictures. That made it possible for the studio to enter into a new production and distribution agreement with Paramount, allowing the studio to contemplate a return to their more ample New York City quarters and once again grow their staff.

Amazingly, by the end of 1929, the Fleischers were back in their former space at 1600 Broadway. 

Max and Frank Goldman teamed up to create Finding His Voice, an educational film for Western Electric, that explained how a film could ‘talk.’ 

From The Film Daily, October 1929

Fun Fact

Photo of a young Ray Bolger, including an inscription to Max's daughter Ruth, who he was dating at the time. Bolger was also a good friend of Max Fleischer and his wife, Essie.

In all of the Carrie films, Peggy is played by actress Peggy Shaw, and Carrie’s best friend is played by Max Fleischer’s daughter, Ruth (using her stage name ‘Ruth Florence’). Amazingly, Ray Bolger, the vaudeville dancer who later went on to fame as the scarecrow in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ earned his very first film credit in a ‘Carrie of the Chorus’ film.

Max's daughter, Ruth Fleischer (whose stage name was Ruth Florence) poses with other actors on the set of one of the 'Carrie of the Chorus' films.

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Fun photo

The note on the back of this playful photo from the set of one of the "Carrie of the Chorus" films reads:

 "Many people outside the business think that making pictures is the easiest work imaginable, and from this picture, one would naturally be led to believe this popular idea. Here is a scene during the lunch hour in the studio where the "Carrie of the Chorus" film is being made. The set is a lunch counter which was so real that even the coffee urn was working. So the entire company drank mocha at the expense of the loss of an important piece of liquid props. Max and Dave Fleischer, as well as Bradley Barker, are helping in the dispensing."