The American film industry was entering a new phase of rapid expansion by mid-to-late 1903, and a key factor in this revival was the popularity of story films. If such subjects had yet to become the dominant product for American manufacturers, they had at least become the kind of cinema emphasized at urban theaters. In their Sunday newspaper advertising, Kohl & Castle announced the featured pictures at their three Chicago theaters where Spoor's kinodrome service was used. An analysis of these announcements in terms of actuality or documentary-like subjects on the one hand and acted or fiction subjects on the other yields the progress charted in the graph on page 338. As discussed in the previous chapter, a similar shift had taken place at Keith theaters only a few months earlier, when Vitagraph was hired. By mid 1903 successful exhibition companies and the theater managers who hired them recognized the enthusiasm with which audiences greeted story films. Although making story films required a substantial investment, American producers felt ready to meet this demand with original subjects now that they were clearly protected by copyright law.
Biograph was in the forefront of this revival.
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