Agnes Egan Cobb — Who’s Who in the Film Game (1913) 🇺🇸
By special invitation, we have here a film woman. The supply of women who score high in film circles is rather limited. To score at all means that the woman herself must combine rare faculties with keen business foresight. Film men are shrewd men and their dealings are largely with each other. Film women are scarce, to be numbered on the fingers of one hand easily. Agnes Egan Cobb is better known than any other film woman because she mixes with men. She has been from ocean to ocean, time and again, and her ability to breeze into a film exchange, sing her little lay, get the order and be on the way has stamped her as a business woman par excellence. Film men far and near know this sprightly little saleswoman. To know her even more intimately this partial account of her activities seems to be appropriate.
Agnes Egan Cobb was born in Brooklyn and her girl life wasn’t essentially different from other girls’ lives who were born in Brooklyn. She attended and graduated from the public schools, her diploma issuing from the one known as No. 139. Following her graduation she attended Mt. Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts for two and a half years, when the death of her father caused an abrupt ending of school days. Events transpired rapidly now. Following a short courtship she married and was blessed with a daughter and the attending joys of peaceful wedlock. These happy days were of short duration, however, because of the death of the husband and father at the end of the third year. This left one young widow and one young daughter to face life from wholly new angles. It was all very different. Independence gripped the mother. She must be bread-winner for herself and her baby. Life for both depended on a job and the Cieneguita Copper Company supplied the job. For five years Agnes Egan Cobb was secretary to George Beebe, president of this concern. The mines were located at Sonora, Mexico, and for a time the secretary lived with Mr. and Mrs. Beebe in Mexico. But this was too far from home and family to endure.
Upon her return to New York the erstwhile mining secretary, who had been frugal, saw opportunity in the motion picture business. The mystery of a woman’s money was partly solved. Agnes Egan had saved real coin of the realm and she dug it up. share and share alike, with two partners styled Joslyn Company, pioneer junk film dealers and renters. From a paid secretary to an unpaid president meant to hustle. The Josyln president’s prefix was “Go Fetch.” The Joslyn Company prospered from the opening day. An offer of cash to buy the business was accepted because the president believes in a short turn and a quick profit. Probably for this reason she succeeds as a feature film specialist. At the time of the exchange sale features were just coming in. They offered problems new and untried. P. Powers and P. Craft had the film “Buffalo Bill,” and they were in need of a salesman. Hearing that Agnes Egan Cobb was at liberty they compromised by employing a saleswoman. But a single subject didn’t last long and the saleswoman in the case found that out. When Adam Kessel Jr., wanted a secretary he remembered that Agnes Egan would qualify if he could find her. It was in the early days of the Reliance studio and it was there that the new Kessel secretary made connection with a fat pay envelope. But it was lonesome in the place after Adam went to California to help along the big stuff, and the little secretary wanted more excitement. She was lured into the poster game for two reasons — more money and a new experience. Agnes Egan wanted to know the film game from all the points of the compass. Posters were something else. She was the first saleswoman for colored lithographs, specializing motion pictures. And she went after every film maker and landed them all. Then came Dr. Frederick Cook’s offer. Dr. Cook had a number of things that were troubling him. He had been exploring and now sought exploitation. Agnes Egan took the job. She was concerned about the north pole particularly. By mixing with Dr. Cook she might discover whether he ever reached the north pole or not — such is a woman’s curiosity. This work meant exploiting the Doctor, and she needed help. With the assistance of Messrs. Wilber, Osborne and Frank she got out a book and formed the Polar Publishing Company. The whole affair proved the undoing of the exploiter. She went down with a case of nerves and wound up in a hospital, where other doctors nursed her back to health. But the book survived, too.
The activities of Agnes Egan have been extreme. She was all over the country for the National Film Distributing and Sales Company, and then representative of Lux, in charge of the Pacific Coast studios with headquarters in Los Angeles. When Lux abandoned American made products, the coast folks returned to New York and when the train pulled into the Grand Central station there stood old Romance with a carnation in his lapel, waiting for his Merry Widow. What could the poor girl do? She got into a taxi and married again. This time, as most all know, she married C. Lang Cobb, Jr. That was February 5, 1912, lest you forget. Following the ceremony she succeeded for eight months in playing lady at home, but one fine day when papa was galivanting around the country and Harry Rush Raver was greatly in need of help, he called up Mrs. Cobb and told her that she could have Itala if she hurried right down. She did. And since then the maid does the housekeeping.
When John Tippetts left Eclair to go to Europe Mrs. Cobb was offered the management of Union Features, which she accepted. Since then she has created “Features Ideal,” her first pet and only business hobby. These two give her five features a month — quite some occupation if you are at all familiar with the details of marketing feature films.
While living in Mexico Mrs. Cobb learned to ride a horse. It is her special diversion from the cares of business. Her home is the rendezvous of congenial friends who seek it out on any pretext, real or imaginary. Mrs. Cobb is a film woman, every inch. If you doubt it ask her to explain what Union or Ideal means.
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Film Women are Scarce.
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An Excellent Ramo Feature
A thrilling story, capable playing, excellent photography and appropriate tinting make the Ramo feature “The Devil Within” a most satisfactory offering. It is three exciting parts and shows how John Walker has not attempted to conceal the fact that his will leaves almost his entire fortune to his son Jack, merely providing a small trust for his daughter Jane, who has recently been married to James Gleason. Gleason, learning of the terms of the will, plots to disgrace Jack in the eyes of his father and with the aid of a woman, Maude Barnes, causes Jack to be charged with theft. This takes place at Jack’s college, but the actual arrest is delayed by Jack’s room-mate until after the big foot-ball game, of which Jack is the star player.
The disgrace is sufficient to force Jack to leave college. On his arrival home, a stormy scene ensues and jack is ordered from the house by his father, whose mind has otherwise been poisoned against him by Gleason. Jack’s father is also influenced to make a new will, but Gleason does not know its contents. With contemptible perseverance Gleason also hounds Jack and causes him to be discharged from different positions.
The father dies and Jack returns only to be refused admittance to the house by Gleason. Determined to have a Iast look at his father, Jack gains entrance and meets little Olive, his niece, of whom lie is very fond. Her childish love for Jack prompts her to force him to take her little diamond picture locket as a remembrance. Gleason has opened the safe in the library and has just read the last will, which will give Jack the fortune when he reaches the age of twenty-five, provided he does nothing dishonest, in which latter event Gleason’s wife is to have it. Gleason foresees that Jack will eventually get the fortune under the terms of the will and thoroughly enraged, he turns away from the safe and catches a glimpse of Jack as he is leaving the house. His clever mind immediately evolves the plot to accuse him of robbing the safe. Jack’s possession of the locket aids Gleason as he dramatically accuses Jack. Appearances against him, Jack is forced to make his escape from the meshes that surround him.
Tracked by detectives, hungry and desperate, Jack tries to enter a farm house and is only saved from this crime by overhearing a prayer of the farmer’s daughter Edith. In withdrawing, he falls and is seriously injured. The fanner’s wife asking no questions, nurses him to health and he later works and lives with them. Incidentally Jack and Edith grow to love each other.
Gleason has continued his association with Maude Barnes, visiting her frequently. A thief, surprised by her alone in her apartment, accidentally shoots her but escapes. The testimony of the elevator boy and Gleason’s glove on her table point conclusively to Gleason as the murderer. Panic-stricken at the circumstantial evidence against him Gleason flees and hard-pressed by the detectives, evades them by jumping from a fast moving freight train. Fate leads him for refuge to a barn where Jack, with a party arrives for a barn dance. Confronting Jack, Gleason threatens to disclose his past unless he aids him. Jack, in despair, conceals him in the loft and side tracks the detectives, but to no avail. The barn catches fire in the midst of the dance and Gleason still concealed in the hay loft, is fatally injured Jack risks his life and brings Gleason out alive and receives his reward in an ante-mortem statement from Gleason, clearing his name and entitling him to the Fortune and — to marry Edith.
A big moment in Ramo’s “The Devil Within.”
Collection: Motography Magazine, December 1913