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Scene from Tess of the Storm Country (1914), starring Mary Pickford and directed by Edwin S. Porter.
Credit: Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann
From 1912 to 1916 Porter directed films for the Famous Players Film Company, including Tess of the Storm Country (1914), starring Mary Pickford. After quitting because of clashes with producers Adolph Zuckor and Daniel H. Frohman, Porter put his movie earnings into his Precision Machine Company and worked on improvements to film equipment, lightweight motor-operated cameras, talking pictures, and other new technologies.