Natural Color Kinematograph Company

In March 1909, to capitalise on Kinemacolor, which had first been shown to the public in February, Charles Urban formed the Natural Color Kinematograph Company.

Films produced by the Natural Color Kinematograph Company were screened throughout the United Kingdom and gained popularity among the British royal family.

It was directed by Theo Bouwmeester, who made several other films for the company, including Oedipus Rex (1911), Dandy Dick of Bishopsgate (1911), La Tosca (1911), and a western named Fate (1911).

[6] Criticisms of the narrative films produced by the Natural Color Kinematograph Company included poor acting and direction, as well as the necessity for an open-air studio due to the light-absorbing Kinemacolor process.

[7] In 1913, after years of dispute, William Friese-Greene, inventor of the rival Biocolour system, challenged the validity of Smith's Kinemacolor patent at the Royal Courts of Justice.

[8] Hoping that the House of Lords would reverse the Court of Appeal's decision, the company continued trading as Color Films Ltd. at the same London address.

Frame from Coronation of George V (1911)
Frame from Nubia, Wadi Halfa and the Second Cataract (1911), one of the many Kinemacolor travelogues
The former Kinemacolor studios in Hove, used for narrative films by the Natural Color Kinematograph Company, seen in 2005. The word "KINEMACOLOR" is visible, painted to the side of the building.