Let’s dig into Made in New Jersey: Films from Fort Lee. Before Hollywood became known as the filmmaking mecca of America and the World, Fort Lee, New Jersey was the hub for the burgeoning film industry following Thomas Edison establishing the first film studio – dubbed “Black Maria” – in neighboring West Orange. Kino, in association with Milestone Films, has brought 14 films and two documentaries – curated by author and film historian Richard Koszarski – made in this New York City suburb in the early 20th Century to Blu-ray in this collection.
The Production: 4/5
For this set, the films made at Fort Lee are spread across two discs, spanning from 1909 to 1939. The first disc showcases the films made and released from 1909 to 1913, in the era when Fort Lee was the filmmaking capital of America (evidenced by Champion Studios being the first of many studios to set up shop in town). The second disc has three films from 1918, 1935 and 1939, when Hollywood had by and large replaced the New Jersey borough as the hub of the American movie industry.
Disc 1: Before Hollywood
The Curtain Pole (1909, Biograph Studios; 13 min.)
D.W. Griffith’s slapstick comedy features Mack Sennett as a man whose pursuit of a new curtain pole ends up riling much of the town. Musical score composed and performed by Donald Sosin.
The Cord of Life (1909, Biograph Studios; 15 min.)
When refused a loan from his brother (Charles Inslee), a scheming brother (George Gebhardt) hatches a plot to get even involving his brother’s child. Early D.W. Griffith drama features an early example of his trademarked “ride-to-the-rescue” trope in his films. Musical score composed and performed by Donald Sosin.
Robin Hood (1912, Éclair American Studios & Universal Pictures; 31 min.)
The earliest extant film based on the Robin Hood legend, restored from the lone surviving print with its original color tints intact. Musical score compiled by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
The Champion: A Story of America’s First Film Town (2015; 35 min.)
The 2015 short documentary looks at the influence of pioneering producer Mark J. Dintenfass and how his studio, Champion, spurred a short-lived movie studio boom in Fort Lee.
The Indian Land Grab (1910, Champion Studios; 11 min.)
When a young Indian chief head to Washington, D.C. to prevent his lands from being seized, he unexpectedly finds romance in his quest; an early example of an interracial romance depicted on film as well as exposing corruption in the government’s abuse of Indian rights. Music by Ben Model.
A Daughter of Dixie (1910, Champion Studios & Kalem Company; 10 min.)
A Southern belle finds the Civil War a personal affair when her brother and her lover are on opposite sides of the conflict; one of the many Civil War melodramas that were popular around the time of the conflict’s 50th anniversary. Music by Ben Model.
Not Like Other Girls (1912, Universal Victor; 9 min.)
Florence Lawrence, one of American cinema’s first great movie stars, stars alongside Owen Moore in this straightforward movie about young love. Music by Ben Model.
Flo’s Discipline (1912, Universal Victor; 11 min.)
Lawrence and Moore reunite in this humorous battle of the sexes over how to discipline the unruly student body at a boy’s school. Music by Ben Model.
Marked Cards (1913, Universal Pictures & Champion Studios; 10 min.)
Future director Irving Cummings stars as a man who’ll forgive a desperate gambler’s theft of money if he marries his sister; one of the last productions by Champion Studios. Music by Ben Model.
The Vampire (1913, Kalem Company; 39 min.)
The earliest surviving example of the “vamp” trope (the modern day “femme fatale”) in the Silent Era, the story follows the downfall and redemption of Harold Brentwell (Harry F. Millarde), when he moves to the city to save up enough money to marry his sweetheart (Marguerite Courtot) but ends up falling under the spell of the titular femme fatale (Alice Hollister). Musical score composed and performed by Philip C. Carli.
A Girl of the West (1912, Vitagraph Studios; 14 min.)
This early western from the Vitagraph Studios was quite progressive for its time for having a woman-centric plot involving cowboys and the theft of money intended for a horse. Music by Ben Model.
A Grocery Clerk’s Romance (1912, Keystone Studios; 8 min.)
Mack Sennett directs this comedy of a loafer who’s mistaken for a spy and his wife’s romance with the local grocery clerk, which takes an unexpected turn at the end. Music compiled by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
There She Goes (1913, Pathé; 14 min.)
Complications arise when a daughter of a deli owner tries to marry a cowboy in the western town of Clarksville; thieves try to rob the deli owner while he’s distracted, but the newlywed couple arrive in time to save the day. Music by Ben Model.
Disc 2: After Hollywood
The Danger Game (1918, Goldwyn Pictures; 61 min.)
One of the first post-WWI films to show the modern American woman (the “flapper”) on screen, Madge Kennedy stars as a society girl and an aspiring author who tries to commit a crime to prove that the plot of her book is plausible and end up falling in love with the critic that panned her book. Reconstructed from a nitrate damaged print with music composed and performed by Donald Sosin.
Cossacks in Exile (1939, Avramenko Film Company; 84 min.)
Edgar G. Ulmer directs this film adaptation of the Ukranian comic opera by Semen Hulak-Artemowsky regarding the Zaporozhian Cossacks exile from their homeland in the late 18th Century and their resettlement in the Ottoman Empire and hopeful return to their ancestral lands.
Ghost Town: The Story of Fort Lee (1935; 17 min.)
One of the first documentaries to deal with the history of film from a cultural & economical perspective, Theodore Huff and Mark A. Borgatta revisit the then derelict sites of where the first films in Fort Lee were made (the final title card muses if Hollywood would go the same way as Fort Lee, an interesting anecdote considering what’s going on today). Music by Ben Model.
Video: 3.5/5
3D Rating: NA
For this Blu-ray set, the HD transfers for each of the 16 films featured were taken from the best surviving elements for each film from various film archives and private collections, including the Library of Congress, Alois F. Dettlaff (the holder of the lone surviving print of Robin Hood), Strand Theatre Museum Collection, the AFI, Eye Filmmuseum in the Netherlands, Filmoteca Generalitat Valenciana in Spain, the George Eastman Museum, the Provincial Archives of Alberta, Canada; Cossacks in Exile in particular is the recipient of a brand new 4K restoration from the 35mm nitrate print – with hand-colored fire sequence – held by the film’s producer Vasile Avramenko. For each film, there’s varying degrees of scratches, tears and dirt present, largely owing to the state of the materials used for each film’s respective HD transfer. However, the fact that these films survive at all is a miracle and are likely given the best home video presentation here.
Audio: 4.5/5
The musical accompaniments for each of the silent films as well as the original mono soundtrack for Cossacks in Exile are presented on 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks for this release. For each of the silent films, the music for each respective film composed and performed by Donald Sosin, Ben Model, Philip C. Carli and Rodney Sauer (accompanied with the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra) are presented clearly with nary an instance of distortion present; the original soundtrack for Cossacks in Exile does contain minor instances of crackling, popping and hissing present on the track. Again, given the fact that these films exist with the precarious state of prints of silent films still surviving today, this home video release is likely the best each of the 14 films included in this release are likely to sound on home video.
Special Features: 1/5
While there are no special features on either disc, there’s a 20-page booklet included with this release featuring an essay by film historian Richard Koszarski and notes on the films included in this set.
Overall: 4/5
While time may have brought down the curtain on the era film production in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the town still has served a significant role in the development of the American film industry. Kino and Milestone have given one of the year’s most indispensable home video releases with decent HD transfers of the 14 films and 2 documentaries included both chronicling and showcasing the New Jersey borough’s time in the spotlight. Very highly recommended.
Mychal has been on the Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2018, with reviews numbering close to 300. During this time, he has also been working as an assistant manager at The Cotton Patch – his family’s fabric and quilting supplies business in Keizer, Oregon. When not working at reviewing movies or working at the family business, he enjoys exploring the Oregon Coast, playing video games and watching baseball in addition to his expansive collection of movies on DVD, Blu-ray and UHD, totalling over 3,000 movies.
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