Joseph Menchen

Joseph Menchen c. 1913.

Joseph L. Menchen (1 April 1878 − 4 October 1940) was an American inventor, self-made businessman, film producer, screenwriter and literary agent.

Menchen was born on 1 April 1878 in Illinois.

In 1895, Menchen was a theatre electrician in Kansas City, Missouri.^[1] He was the owner of Joseph Menchen Electrical Co., New York, which sold electrical theatre lighting and stage effects.^[2]

Menchen produced and co-directed (with Michel Carré) The Miracle (1912 film), an early full-length, hand-coloured, black-and-white British feature film.^[3] In 1915, he was involved with the design of the Norris-Menchen flamethrower. He also owned the original film rights to the Arsène Lupin detective novels by Maurice Leblanc, which he sold to Robertson-Cole for $360,000 in 1920.^[4]

Menchen died on 4 October 1940, aged 62, in California and was buried in Glendale.^[5]

References

Notes

Citations

1. New York Dramatic Mirror, 16 November 1895, p. 22
2. Menchen 1906.
3. Slough Observer 26 July 1913, p. 8.
4. Wid's Daily (Volume 11-12) Jan-Jun 1920, 24 April 1920, p. 817
5. Ogden Standard Examiner, 9 October 1940, p. 6

Sources

• Menchen, Joseph (1906). Improved electrical theatrical appliances: Catalogue no. 4. September 1, 1906 (PDF). New York: Joseph Menchen Electrical Company.

• "The "Miracle" coming to Slough". Slough, Eton and Windsor Observer: 8, col. 3. 26 July 1913. This a zoomable image: for other formats see here.)