Saturday, February 20, 2010

Fort Hollywood, My Home Town

This is my contribution to For The Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon, hosted by Marilyn Ferdinand and Farran Nehme, a.k.a. The Siren. The Blogathon runs from February 14-21.

An interesting footnote of American film history is that before there was Hollywood, California there was Fort Lee, New Jersey. It doesn't have quite the same ring to it (perhaps not where a young mechanic can be a panic), but for all intents and purposes it's the location of the birth of a large-scale motion picture industry, one of the first the world had ever seen. The fact that the industry was born here is fitting really, as Thomas Edison and his assistant W.K.L. Dickson invented the 'Kinetograph' (history has suggested that Dickson was the more instrumental of the two), a crude early version of the movie camera which was designed to shoot films for Edison's Kinetoscope (essentially an early version of the Nickelodeon) when located at Edison's lab in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison also built his famous "Black Maria" soundstage in Fort Lee, thought of as the first proper film studio. But Fort Lee was the artistic home of many legends of the early medium: D.W. Griffith (as actor and director), Douglas Fairbanks, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Theda Bara, Oscar Micheaux, Mary Pickford, W.C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, Raoul Walsh, Lionel, John and Ethel Barrymore are among the noteworthy artists and performers to have worked in the town. In addition to this, Fort Lee housed many early manifestations of some of the medium's most noteworthy studios: Metro Pictures Corporations, Fox, Biograph, Keystone, The Champion Film Company (a precursor of Universal Studios) and Selznick Picture Corporations are examples of some of the studios that operated directly across the river from New York City.

The proximity of Fort Lee and the New Jersey Palisades (the term 'cliffhanger' is said to refer to the area's distinctive cliffs) to New York was what initially attracted film makers to the area, as the large amount of undeveloped land created an ideal situation for location shooting as well as land to build studios on. One of the earliest films shot in Fort Lee was Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (pictured below), directed by Thomas Edison and staring a young actor named David Wark Griffith, who would later achieve some notoriety as a director. Griffith got his proverbial foot in the door on these hallowed grounds, and soon after his appearance in Edison's film he would begin a prosperous relationship with Biograph as actor and later as a director (probably most noteworthy is the fact that Griffith shot some exteriors for his seminal The Musketeers of Pig Alley in Fort Lee).


As more and more studios began to set up shop in Fort Lee, the area became more and more prosperous. Between businesses designed to help the movie companies and businesses catering to the tourism of the area, Fort Lee became the first great movie town in America.


Alas, as with all great American institutions - from the Colonies to Baseball - a Westward pilgrimage was imminent, taking the movies away from the East Coast and relocating them to sunny California. Nestor Studios, which operated out of Bayonne, New Jersey, was the pioneer of West Coast based film making, as they were looking to make use of California's vast open spaces and year round warm weather (Nestor Studios would eventually be swallowed by mega-conglomerate Universal). Other studios quickly followed suit. Some studios kept their labs located on the East Coast but by the early 1920s the movie industry had more or less completely relocated to Hollywoodland.

The tragic element of this story is that very few of the films shot in Fort Lee have survived to this day. Studio fires were fairly common, between ultra-flammable nitrate film stock and the fact that the studios were built with large windows that trapped heat in the studios like a greenhouse (example below), and one studio after another burned to the ground. For instance, The Marx Brothers first film Humor Risk was screened once in New York and is thought to be lost forever. The incredibly rich cinematic history of Fort Lee has been almost completely destroyed, which is a hole in my heart, as I would love to see what my hometown looked like a century ago. Who knows what early masterpieces will remain unseen for all time?


And this is, as they say, the hook. So many films - as valuable a cultural indicator as we have - run the risk of suffering the fate the films of Fort Lee did. But we know so much more about the art and science of preserving films now, the only thing that's missing (and it's a big thing) is monetary support. That's why two of the most wonderful writers on the internet joined forces for this blogathon: to raise awareness and money for this most noble cause. As film bloggers, we do something very valuable by sharing our views with the world and engaging with works of art, but this cause is extremely important. This is bigger than all of us. It's estimated that 75% of all silent films are lost forever, though this is impossible to accurately gauge as accurate records were not kept at that time. I'm sure that 75% contains more than a few duds, but isn't it possible that we've lost films on the level of Metropolis, The Passion of Joan of Arc, or The Last Laugh? Though the quality of the films saved is virtually irrelevant, at any rate - as Henry Langlois said, "One must save everything and buy everything. Never assume you know what's of value. " We need to preserve these films for future generations, and let them decide what's great and what is not. And that starts with us. Donate anything you can spare to The National Film Preservation Foundation. Let's give something back to the medium that has given us so much.



19 comments:

Sam Juliano said...

As you know Ryan I live within minutes of your town (and I have lived here my entire life) and have passed though it more times in my 55 years than I could ever record in numbers. And I know all about the history, and own volumes and DVDs broaching the very subject you do a terrific job here with. What a tremendous contribution to Marilyn and Greg's venture here! Fort Lee was the capital!!!

Ryan Kelly said...

Sam, between New York City and the part of New Jersey where you and I reside, this area is extremely rich in movie history. Which DVDs have you collected on this subject? My primary source for this piece was "Fort Lee: The Film Town", which is where I got those gorgeous pictures (except the Edison screencap). Be interested in pursuing the subject further as, until fairly recently, Fort Lee didn't do much to acknowledge its own history.

Homiebrain said...

Great piece, Ryan. I've always felt a little guilty that I didn't know much about our town's rich film history, and this made for a great primer. In regards to Metropolis, I read an article about a year and a half ago saying that they found a couple reels that filled in a majority of the film's continuity breaks. I haven't kept up with news of the restoration process since, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be hearing about a newly restored edition in a few years.

Ryan Kelly said...

Brian, you 'aint kidding when you say you're behind! The restoration is complete, it was just live streamed over the internet about a week ago and is making a theatrical debut next month, I believe. Hopefully it'll make its way to New York sometime soon, as I've always wanted to see that movie on the big screen, especially the restored one.

Joe Thompson said...

Ryan: Thanks for the great post about your home town. I first heard of Fort Lee when I found a copy of the memoirs of Linda Griffith (DW's wife) in our local library. She talks about the Biograph company taking the ferry to Fort Lee.

Ryan Kelly said...

Joe, it was my pleasure, thank you for reading! I'll have to try to dig up Griffith's wife's memoirs, as that sounds like an interesting read, especially if she discusses her memories of being in the town. Thank you for calling it to my attention.

Tinky said...

Very fun and absorbing! I particularly liked the "cliffhanger" story. I spend a fair amount of time in NJ and will have to visit Fort Lee next time I'm there just to pay homage.

P.S. Don't tell the French you said Edison's guys invented the film industry........

Ryan Kelly said...

Tinky, hope you won't be disappointed, as there are very few landmarks around the town commemorating its rich history (though the good folks on The Fort Lee Film Commission are trying to change this), and outside of that there isn't too terribly much to do around here... the best thing about it, for me, is its proximity to NYC (a stone's throw, literally).

And I wasn't trying to imply that Americans invented movies before the French or anything like that. Cinema as we think of it was developed throughout the world through the late 1800s into the 1900s, and most of these developments were made largely independent of one another.

Thanks for reading!

Sam Juliano said...

Ryan, the most essential DVD I own is the Image title "Before Hollywood There Was Fort Lee, N.J.: Epic Moviemaking in New Jersey" which includes the complete feature "The Wishing Ring" which was produced by David Sheppard in cooperation with the Fort Lee Film Commission.
Also, historian Richard Kosarski, founding editor of the journal Film History, member of the Fort Lee Film Commission and author of several important books on early cinema, contributed "New Jersey and the Early Motion Picture Industry."

Here is a link to the Sheppard DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/Before-Hollywood-There-Fort-N-J/dp/B00008RGZP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266766966&sr=1-2

Ryan Kelly said...

Thank you kindly, Sam!

Roger Ebert said...

I remember walking to and from school in the town of Fort Lee and always passing a decrepit house, I don't remember if anyone lived there but anyway it was John Barrymore's old house. Nobody told me this until they were about to knock it down. I didn't know much about the dead fella at the time but his name was one I heard about from time to time.

I don't really know of any film sites of any significance in the town now that I think about it. Do you?

Ryan Kelly said...

Not Roger Ebert, do you recall what street Barrymore's house was on? The really old houses in the town are so lovely, it's a shame they tore them all down (even the historically significant ones like the Casa-de-Barrymore) to make way for those 2 family atrocities.

And, no, with the exception of naming some streets after silent film stars and a few pictures here and there, Fort Lee does virtually nothing to preserve its cinematic history. A shame, and it's honestly too late to rectify it.

Marilyn said...

Ryan, flattery will get you everywhere. Except Chicago is the birthplace of films. OK, maybe not, but we had a big studio, Essanay, and Chaplin did a lot of work here. And they used to shoot movies a couple of blocks from where I live.

Seriously, this is a fun and useful entry, one that really does remind us of what is at stake. Thanks for being a part of our own little corner of movie history - the blogathon that saved a film!

Ryan Kelly said...

Marilyn, in all the time that I've been reading and participating in the film blogosphere, this is the most valuable cause I've seen them take up. A display of solidarity that is extremely touching. I'm grateful to have been a part of it.

Fortleefilm said...

I am the Executive Director and founder of the Fort Lee Film Commission. I am 49 and a third generation resident of this borough. Myg grandmother, born inFort Lee in 1902, was an extra in silent films as a child and spent her life working in the film labs of Fort Lee. I was the third generation to work in the old studio buildings in Fort Lee having worked for NBC News archivesin the historic Brulatour building on John Street.

Please visit our website www.fortleefilm.org to learn of our work which includes restoration / preservation of the first American film version of Robin Hood produced by Eclair Studio in Fort Lee n 1912. Currently we are producing a documentary on the first woman director in cinema history Alice Guy Blache whobuilt Solax Studion on Lemoine Avenue in Fort Lee (present day site of A@P - the entrance is the only histrioc market in the USA dedicated to Madam Blache. The documentary we are working on will air on PBS.

We also run a twice a year historic jitney tour of the many surviving sites of the movie industry in Fort Lee including the Champion Studio on Fifth Street in the Coytesville section of Fort Lee which is the oldest standing studio building in the USA.

Tom Meyers

Ryan Kelly said...

Tom, it's a real honor having you stop in here, thank you for sharing with my readers the valuable service The Fort Lee Film Commission contributes to the area. I would also like to encourage anyone with an interest in film history to check out the Commission's excellent website; it's full of information and you get an insight into the people who are all working to keep what's left of Fort Lee's film history alive.

If there's anything I can do for you or the commission, Tom, please let me know. Preserving our artistic history is something of deep importance to me. You can email me at medflyquarantine@gmail.com if you would like to pursue this further. Once again, thank you for commenting, and thank you for all your hard work.

Marilyn said...

The documentary sounds fabulous. I hope it is shown in Chicago. I'd love to see it.

Adam Zanzie said...

I didn't know any of this, Ryan. And I mean any of this. Including that Griffith once appeared in a movie shot by Thomas Edison. That screencap made my day! But so did the rest of it... I know precious little about Fort Lee (well, actually the entire northeast; I've only been as far as Illinois in that direction of the country). Can't wait to see Mr. Meyers' documentary on PBS so that I can learn more about it.

Oh, and did you say the Marx Bros. were born there, too? So that explains the Marxism ;)

Ryan Kelly said...

Adam, until fairly recently Fort Lee's film history has been washed over, though Tom Meyers and the good folks on The Fort Lee Film Commission are trying to change this. But it's an uphill battle. Like you and Marilyn, I can't wait to see the documentary on PBS. I'll be sure to keep my eye's peeled.

And I don't believe the Marx Bros. were born here, just worked here in the early days of the medium.