M.H. Hoffman(1881-1944)
- Producer
- Additional Crew
M. H. (Maurice Henry) Hoffman Sr.
M.H. Hoffman is associated with numerous companies. There is a bio on Hoffman in the 1929 and 1937-38 "Motion Picture Almanac." He studied painting, singing, and taught languages yet he is best remembered as a producer, director, and studio owner. Studios he founded - Tiffany Pictures, Liberty Productions, and Allied Pictures - produced dozens of mainly low-budget B-pictures in the 1920s and 30s.
Hoffman was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Howard and Bertha Hoffman.
An attorney by training, he earned a Bachelor of Law degree from New York University in 1900 and was admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Hoffman practiced law in New York and Massachusetts until 1910, when he entered the motion picture business operating theaters and managing exchanges - organizations that pooled pictures and distributed them to theaters.
From 1910 to 1917, he was general manager then owner of the Universal Film Company, a motion picture exchange in New England. Between 1917 and 1921 he was in the "independent state right market, producing and distributing pictures."
He co-founded Tiffany Pictures (later Tiffany-Stahl Pictures) with star Mae Murray and her then-husband, Robert Z. Leonard in 1921. The Poverty Row studio made eight Mae Murray films; all released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Between 1921 and 1932, Tiffany released at least 70 features, both silent and sound, 20 of which were Westerns. At one point, Tiffany was booking its films into nearly 2,500 theaters. The studio filed for bankruptcy in 1932.
In 1922 he was listed as co-founder and general advisory director of Truart Film Corp., a producer/distributor of films based in New York.
In 1930 Hoffman founded and was acting president and general manager of Liberty Productions. Liberty produced its first film in 1930, "Ex-Flame," loosely based on the Victorian novel "East Lynne." In 1935 the studio was taken over by Republic Pictures. The Republic motif was "borrowed" from the symbolic motif of Liberty Pictures - the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
In 1931 Hoffman founded Allied Pictures. He was president, and his son, M. H. (Paul E.) Hoffman, Jr., was vice president. The studio's best-known film was "A Shriek in the Night (1933)," a thriller starring Ginger Rogers. At Allied, Hoffman signed Lila Lee and Hoot Gibson, the Western Star, and used the profits from their films to back literary adoptions that he wanted to make, including "Innocents (1932)," "Vanity Fair (1932)" and "Unholy Love (1932)."
In 1932, Hoffman was a founder and first president of the Independent Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA). Comparable to the Motion Pictures Producers Association, the organization dealt primarily with production and union problems.
Allied folded in 1934, and Hoffman concentrated on running Liberty Pictures; Liberty merged into the new Republic Pictures in 1935. Republic took its original Liberty Bell logo from Hoffman's Liberty Pictures.
Hoffman and his wife, Mary, had a daughter, Hermine Hoffman Ruskin, and two sons, M. H. Jr. (Paul. E. Hoffman) and George F. (adopted). He died in Los Angeles on March 6, 1944, at age 61.
M.H. Hoffman is associated with numerous companies. There is a bio on Hoffman in the 1929 and 1937-38 "Motion Picture Almanac." He studied painting, singing, and taught languages yet he is best remembered as a producer, director, and studio owner. Studios he founded - Tiffany Pictures, Liberty Productions, and Allied Pictures - produced dozens of mainly low-budget B-pictures in the 1920s and 30s.
Hoffman was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Howard and Bertha Hoffman.
An attorney by training, he earned a Bachelor of Law degree from New York University in 1900 and was admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Hoffman practiced law in New York and Massachusetts until 1910, when he entered the motion picture business operating theaters and managing exchanges - organizations that pooled pictures and distributed them to theaters.
From 1910 to 1917, he was general manager then owner of the Universal Film Company, a motion picture exchange in New England. Between 1917 and 1921 he was in the "independent state right market, producing and distributing pictures."
He co-founded Tiffany Pictures (later Tiffany-Stahl Pictures) with star Mae Murray and her then-husband, Robert Z. Leonard in 1921. The Poverty Row studio made eight Mae Murray films; all released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Between 1921 and 1932, Tiffany released at least 70 features, both silent and sound, 20 of which were Westerns. At one point, Tiffany was booking its films into nearly 2,500 theaters. The studio filed for bankruptcy in 1932.
In 1922 he was listed as co-founder and general advisory director of Truart Film Corp., a producer/distributor of films based in New York.
In 1930 Hoffman founded and was acting president and general manager of Liberty Productions. Liberty produced its first film in 1930, "Ex-Flame," loosely based on the Victorian novel "East Lynne." In 1935 the studio was taken over by Republic Pictures. The Republic motif was "borrowed" from the symbolic motif of Liberty Pictures - the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
In 1931 Hoffman founded Allied Pictures. He was president, and his son, M. H. (Paul E.) Hoffman, Jr., was vice president. The studio's best-known film was "A Shriek in the Night (1933)," a thriller starring Ginger Rogers. At Allied, Hoffman signed Lila Lee and Hoot Gibson, the Western Star, and used the profits from their films to back literary adoptions that he wanted to make, including "Innocents (1932)," "Vanity Fair (1932)" and "Unholy Love (1932)."
In 1932, Hoffman was a founder and first president of the Independent Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA). Comparable to the Motion Pictures Producers Association, the organization dealt primarily with production and union problems.
Allied folded in 1934, and Hoffman concentrated on running Liberty Pictures; Liberty merged into the new Republic Pictures in 1935. Republic took its original Liberty Bell logo from Hoffman's Liberty Pictures.
Hoffman and his wife, Mary, had a daughter, Hermine Hoffman Ruskin, and two sons, M. H. Jr. (Paul. E. Hoffman) and George F. (adopted). He died in Los Angeles on March 6, 1944, at age 61.
