Born Today December 4: A. Carlos

 

 1876-1930

 

 Not very much is known about this silent film "presenter" that went simply by A. Carlos, except that he was indeed male, born in Poland and ultimately died in Paris, France. We also know that he founded a production company in the United States somewhere along the way.  The first film listed from both the production company--Carlos Productions--and Carlos himself as a presenter was The Unknown Purple which was released in October of 1923.  The company was only involved in 22 recorded productions between the years 1923 and 1928 and Carlos himself is credited on 20 of those as a presenter. [Note:  the second company credit comes closely on it's first with the film Let's Go, a co-production with the Richard Talmadge Productions Co. the company of acrobat/stunt man turned actor Richard Talmadge--no relation to the famous Talmadge sisters; Carlos himself is not listed among the film's credits.]  It is quite possible that the company has other credits and so to does Carlos himself, that are hard to track down, but for the purposes here I will stick to what is readily available.  Also, the title "presenter" would be recognized today as a kind of executive producer, and clearly as the founder of a production house, the films that bear Carlos' name should be considered in some respects made by him. In the mid-1920's his company produced several more films made for the above mentioned Richard Talmadge (one of the strangest being Laughing at Danger, a 1924 comedic yarn about a death ray). Another company that Carlos Productions teamed up with during this time was the Truart Film Co., a tiny company that nonetheless had a presence in the distribution business. By 1928 Carlos and his production company were out the Richard Talmadge promotion business and produced four films with actors and/or directors that were relatively well known. They included Jobyna Ralston in Black Butterflies, King Baggot directing Romance of a Rogue and Dallas M. Fitzgerald directing The Look Out Girl.  The latter two of these were adapted for the screen by Adrian Johnson who had been a major writer at Fox during the teens. His last film production came with Jazzland (poster pictured above) in 1928.  It starred Bryant Washburn and Vera Reynolds, was again directed by Fitzgerald and, despite it's title, was a completely silent release. The film was completely produced by Carlos Productions and distributed by Quality Distribution Company.  Carlos' credits in the film industry end there, and it is probable that he did not make any more films after this point, because he was known to be in Paris, France at the time of his death just two years later. He died in France on the 30th of January at just the age of 53. It is recorded that his remains were shipped back to New York for a funeral and burial. Records show that he was buried at one of the cemeteries in Glendale, Queens--likely Cypress Hills--but nothing else is recorded about his life (at this time).