Well, I'm not here to "diss" anybody but yes both parties were very much aware
of each other and Murray "borrowed" a few of Charlie's titles (made another neg
from a 16mm print of FCE origin). As far as I know Tarbox never used any of
Glass's material.
FCE was founded in 1916, and was incorporated in 1926. Charles Tarbox owned
theatres in New York and in L.A. and during the 50's played silent movies to a
unique form of organ which was designed and built to Tarbox's specs. The organ
could recreate special sound effects and also took on the sounds of various
other instruments. It was a forerunner of a synthesizer. The theatre and the
organ burned to the ground in the 70's.
Tarbox also was a 1/3 owner of a production company called TAM Productions
which stood for Tarbox, Cliff Arquette and Jerome Manning who were his
co-partners. Cliff Arquette is best remembered as "Charley Weaver." TAM
produced the Charley Weaver show for the early days of television among other
things. Tarbox later bought out Arquette and Manning. TAM also sold to
television hundreds of silent films which had added voice tracks and musical
effects. Television in the 50s was hesitant to play "silent" films. Max
Davidson, Monty Banks, Billy Ritchie and Gale Henry all got the new voice
treatment as well as better known silent comics. The "sound" versions of these
forgotten shows DO EXIST today on 35MM and 16MM.
Charles Tarbox also wrote two books - Lost Films: 1895-1917 and The Five Ages
Of The Cinema.
<< I booked a lot of film-society titles from those colorful characters, "back
in the day," and it was clear from various phone conversations with both
Murray and Charlie that they were certainly aware of each other, at least as
competitors in the rare/old-film marketplace of the 1970s.
Since both of them sold as well as rented 16mm prints (sometimes made from
their own negatives, IIRC) there was a high probability that through various
swaps and purchases, whether or not via intermediaries, some of their
once-"exclusive" titles eventually ended up in the other guy's library and
catalog.
(Actually, I never received a real catalog from Charlie -- only lots of
loose sheets, rarely even stapled, of crazy-quilt, cut-and-paste title
listings.)