417 S. OREGON STREET- EL PASO FILM SERVICES COMPANY
417 S. OREGON STREET- EL PASO FILM SERVICES COMPANY
The El Paso Film Services Company was owned by Silvio Lacoma and his brother, Saturnino. The brothers also ran a handful of movie theaters throughout El Paso such as the Alhambra Theater, the Teatro Colón, and the Estrella Theater. Through the company, the brothers maintained and promoted movie and film services within the aforementioned theaters and showed silent films that portrayed the Mexican Revolution. The Lacoma brothers also rented out movie theaters in Juarez to show silent Mexican Revolution films, most notably at the Anáhuac and Aztec theaters. Also, as mentioned in Silvio Lacoma’s obituary and other newspaper articles about him, Silvio was a very wealthy man, made “several fortunes” being a part of the film industry, and was a member of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.
Some of the more notable films that were displayed in their theaters and were prominent during the era included, The Life of General Villa, The Battle of Carrizal, Bronco Billy and the Bad Man, Dante’s Inferno, and The Hand Invisible. The majority of these films portrayed the Mexican Revolution, serving as a medium for wartime propaganda.