The history of the Cinema industry in Puerto Rico predates Hollywood, being conceived after the first industries emerged in some locations of the United States, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, France, Great Britain and Germany. During the US invasion of the island in 1898, American soldiers brought cameras to record what they saw. By 1912, Puerto Ricans would begin to produce their own films. After the early images recorded by the American soldiers in 1898, most of the films produced in the island were documentaries. It wasn't until 1912 that Rafael Colorado D'Assoy recorded the first non-documentary film titled Un drama en Puerto Rico. After that, Colorado and Antonio Capella Martínez created the Film Industrial Society of Puerto Rico in 1916, producing their first film titled Por la hembra y el gallo. Other film companies formed during the time were the Tropical Film Company (1917) and the Porto Rico Photoplays (1919). Puerto Rico was the second Latin American market to produce a sound film, filming Luis Pales Matos's script for Romance Tropical (1934). The film featured Jorge Rodríguez, Raquel and Ernestina Canino, Sixto Chevremont and Cándida de Lorenzo. In the late 1930s Rafael Cobián produced films starring Blanca de Castejón such as Mis dos amores and Los hijos mandan at Hollywood. In 1951, he would produce Mi doble with San Juan as its setting. Mapy and Fernando Cortés would also participate in the Hollywood industry, as well as throughout Latin America.
1986's La gran fiesta was the first attempt to formally compete in the Academy Awards. Starting in the late 1990s the Puerto Rican film industry saw significant growth and the number of local productions has been on the increase every year. The island has produced several actors and actresses and one Academy Award nominated film (see List of Puerto Rican Academy Award winners and nominees). A number of Puerto Rican actors and actresses, led by José Ferrer and Rita Moreno, also established themselves in the foreign film industries.
History Early years: 1912–1950
Cinema was first introduced to the island in limited form during the late 19th Century following the Spanish–American War, with the military action during it reportedly being filmed as well. In 1899, Sigmund Lubin filmed a nationalistic recreation of the Puerto Rican Campaign titled Capture of Porto Rico as part of a series on the war, of which no copies are known to survive The first showings depended on early technology like the Lumiere and Pathé projectors and were temporary in nature, touring the island and leaving to other markets. It proved popular with the public, especially children. The first full films shown were reportedly brought by European circuses and gypsy tropes. In 1918, Hollywood Pathé Exchange used the island to film After 20 years Puerto Rico.
In 1909, local company Cine Pathé also held tours throughout the island led by Rafael Colorado and Conrado Asenjo, the latter of whom would later take charge and rename it Cine Puerto Rico. Prior to the production of local films, most of those shown were of European origin. By this year, the business had spread and permanent theaters had appeared at various municipalities including San Juan, Mayagüez and Ponce. Some cinemas were established in municipalities like San Juan and Ponce. The first attempt took place in 1912, when Juan Emilio Viguié began filming the daily life of the Ponceños with a Pathé camera. His films were shown at Cine Habana, where he worked and producing them required a revelation technique that he invented. Francisco Maymón made the second attempt, beginning a film based on the legends surrounding pirate captain Roberto Cofresí, but complications prevented the culmination of the project. Rafael Colorado, the owner of the first film rental on the island, would create the first film of its class when he filmed Un drama en Puerto Rico, which was able to recover its $700 investment in its first showing. These early attempts gathered general interest and lead to the formal creation of a local film industry, leading to the creation of the Sociedad Industrial Cine Puerto Rico in March 1916. Its creators, Colorado and Antonio Capella would employ actual jíbaros in their country film, Por la hembra y por el gallo, as had been the case in the former's first production. The film debuted at Cine Tres Banderas with tickets being sold at 50 cents. This company would produce religious film El milagro de la Virgen, Mafia en Puerta de Tierra, among others. However, insufficient funding and foreign competition lead to the ceasing of functions. Colorado was also involved in the filming of political activities involving José de Diego and Luis Muñoz Rivera.
By 1912, Colorado produced Un drama en Puerto Rico which became the first drama and scripted film. The producer and businessman had previously filmed short news films in the early 1910s. That year, Cecil B. de Mille filmed several shorts at Ponce. In 1917, the Tropical Film Company was created, featuring people such as Luis Llorens Torres, Nemesio Canales and director Ernesto López, it acquired the equipment from its predecessor and incorporated Colorado. This company was incorporated with the intent of competing with other markets and attracting tourism by featuring local attractions. Llorens Torres directed Paloma del Monte with Gabriel Tejel as lead actor, with a number of jíbaros and two Italian performers of the Zorda family in support. Comedies featuring local actors such as Bety Varezal, were also filmed during this period. A project named La viudita se quiere casar followed. During the filming of El tesoro de Cofresí Aquiles Zorda, the patriarch of the family, returned to Italy for personal reasons and the project was cancelled. The political conflicts of the era complicated the purchase of new film and the company ceased operations as a consequence. Swashbuckling was a popular genre, with the life of pirate Roberto Cofresí being a recurrent topic. Prior to joining Tropical Films, Rafael Colorado had begun the production of Los misterios de Cofresí. Following further studies and experience abroad, Viguié returned in 1919 and began another project about the pirate captain, this one starring Lino Corretjer, which was left inconclusive. Afterwards, Viguié joined the nascent Puerto Rico Photoplay, filming for the American public projects such as The Woman that Fool Herself (May Allison, Robert Ellis, Frank Currie) and El hijo del desierto. The company ceased functions after owner Enrique González was involved in disagreements with his family over it.
This era was a difficult one to produce in Puerto Rico, due to its political status, the poverty that it brought and a skeptical approach from the local higher classes, securing capital proved a challenge to the nascent industry. The limitations of the Motion Pictures Patents a Company also prevented the export of local material abroad. The impact of World War I on the production of silver nitrate was also responsible for limiting materials. The dissolution of the MPPC in 1917 did nothing to benefit the local industry, since the open market and the proliferation of Hollywood benefitted larger and established companies with which the young locals could not compete. Another fire destroyed the studios found at Calle San José, forcing SICPR to relocate to another part of Old San Juan, Calle Fortaleza. A fire destroyed resources, equipment and films in 1917. The first films were directed towards the local public and its topic remained relevant to local affairs. Around 25 films were produced (of which nearly a dozen were fully scripted) during this early stage. However, most of the films and material from this era has been lost.
In 1919, an independent company filmed The Sacloir of the Hills in Puerto Rico. Based in Hato Rey, Porto Rico Photoplays was born of a joint investment by Puerto Rican investors led by Enrique and Eduardo González and George McManus. Its studios were built in 1920 and contemporary notes state that they rivaled those of New York. PRP produced romance drama Amor Tropical (also known as Cumbre de oro and Pinacho de oro) in 1921, filming in Loíza and in its studios. In 1922, PRP also produced El hijo del desierto (a.k.a. Tents of Allah), in which an airplane engine was used to simulate a desert storm. A number of short lived magazines emerged to cover the industry. By the 1920s, theaters had proliferated throughout the island. In 1924, FPL filmed Paramount's Aloma of the South Seas at Piñones, the first non-documentary Hollywood production to do so. In 1941, a remake featured Evelyn Del Río in a supporting role. Viguié participated in the project as cameraman. He would begin the production of documentaries such as La colectiva and La malaria (the first of its kind to detail the progression of the disease), also making arrangements to introduce technicolor to the market two years later. The plot of Warner Brothers' 1927 The Climbers centers around Puerto Rico, but it is unknown if some of it was filmed locally. In 1939, 20th Century Fox filmed Mr. Moto in Puerto Rico (also known as Mr. Moto in Danger Island). Decades later, Henry Silva would portray the character of Mr. Moto in a reboot. The plot of 1942's Au Large de Porto Rico (also known as Ship Ahoy) centers on transporting a magnetic bomb to Puerto Rico, but it is unknown if some was filmed on the island.
The Tropical Film Company was founded by two intellectuals in the National Independence Movement and a veteran filmmaker that immigrated to Puerto Rico from Spain. Even though it is known that this company had produced four films, none of them have been retrieved. This however does not negate the founding base of the Tropical Film Company in Puerto Rican Cinema. It was through Tropical Film Company that the first discourses of educational, cultural, and economic aims were made within the limitations of financial and infrastructural resources that existed then, and still persist, for locally grounded cinematic production, distribution and exhibition in Puerto Rico. Company of contradictions: Puerto Rico's Tropical Film Company (1916–1917). Naida Garcia-Crespo. Film History. 23.4 (Oct. 2011) p401. Word Count: 8053. Reading Level (Lexile): 1730. In 1934, Viguié produced and directed the first Puerto Rican film with sound titled, Romance Tropical. At a budget of $10,000, it was a hit at San Juan, but Viguié sold the rights after the father of the Canino sisters demanded more money, leaving the full-length film business after paying an investor. It became the second sound film in Spanish to be distributed internationally. Romance Tropical set a record at Campoamor Theatre in New York. Distributed by Latina Picture Corporation, rights conflicts prevented the continuation of a series of pending projects and the negotiations of an agreement with MGM. During the 1930s, Viguié began filming sound films of a number of interviews and events, with some of the productions being preserved at the General Archive of Puerto Rico. Theatre owners such as Teodulo Llamas and Rafael Ramos Cobián were also involved in the growth of the industry. Local personalities continued being cast in foreign films, such as Ramón Rivero Diplo and Myrta Silva inUna Gallega en la Habana.
1950s–1960s