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44-746: The first studio of the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company , was located just south of Union Square on the roof of 841 Broadway at 13th Street in Manhattan , known then as the Hackett Carhart Building and today as the Roosevelt Building. The set-up was similar to Thomas Edison 's " Black Maria " in West Orange, New Jersey , being mounted on circular tracks to be able to get

88-604: A New York City Department of Sanitation garage. American Mutoscope and Biograph Company The Biograph Company , also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company , was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over 3000 short films and 12 feature films . During

132-533: A 1968 Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture . The Lion in Winter , which starred Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole , received nine nominations and won three Academy Awards. It also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama . Poll was born on November 24, 1922, in New York City. Poll launched his production career in 1954, when he produced thirty-nine episodes of

176-586: A little further north to a small village they had heard about that was friendly and had beautiful floral scenery. They decided to travel there and fell in love with this little place called Hollywood . Biograph then made the first film ever in Hollywood called In Old California , a Latino melodrama about the early days of Mexico-owned California. Griffith and the Biograph troupe filmed other short movies at various locations, then traveled back to New York. After

220-515: A new state-of-the-art studio on 175th Street in the Bronx . Among the first projects filmed there was Chocolate Dynamite , which was shot in late August 1913 and was a split-reel comedy short , not a feature-film release. There was the problem of the underground "duping" business, where people would illegally duplicate a copyrighted movie and then remove the title screen with the company and copyright notice and sell it to theaters. In order to make

264-616: A package of 100 quarter-hour television shows titled Movie Museum , featuring Biograph, Edison and other early films from the vaults of the Museum of Modern Art and the George Eastman House . Martin Poll Martin Poll (November 24, 1922 – April 14, 2012) was an American film and television producer. Poll produced eleven feature films during his career, including The Lion in Winter , for which he received

308-462: A remake of The Lion in Winter , starring Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine , which aired on Showtime in 2003. Martin Poll died in New York City on April 14, 2012, at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife, Gladys Poll; three sons – Mark Poll, Tony Jaffe and Jon Poll , a film editor and film director; and three grandchildren. In 2003, Cohen, together with production partner Martin Poll

352-590: A subsidiary of his Consolidated Film Industries . Some advertising films and a few feature films were made at the studio in the 1930s, including Midnight (1934), Woman in the Dark (1934), The Crime of Dr. Crespi (1935), Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937), the Yiddish-language folk drama Tevya (1939), and the Oscar Micheaux production The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940). However,

396-559: A top star at the studio and would soon be known to audiences as "The Biograph Girl". In January 1910, Griffith and Lee Dougherty with the rest of the Biograph acting company travelled to Los Angeles. While the purpose of the trip was to shoot Ramona in authentic locations, it was also to determine the suitability of the West Coast as a place for a permanent studio. The group set up a small facility at Washington Street and Grand Avenue. After this, Griffith and his players decided to go

440-475: The Biograph Company . To avoid violating Edison's motion picture patents, Biograph cameras from 1895 to 1902 used a large-format film, measuring 2 + 23 ⁄ 32 inches (69 mm) wide, with an image area of 2 by 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (51 mm × 64 mm), four times that of Edison's 35 mm format. The camera used friction feed instead of Edison's sprocket feed to guide

484-626: The Motion Picture Patents Company in an attempt to control the industry and shut out smaller producers. The "Edison Trust," as it was nicknamed, was made up of Edison, Biograph, Essanay Studios , Kalem Company , George Kleine Productions , Lubin Studios , Georges Méliès , Pathé , Selig Studios and Vitagraph Studios , and dominated distribution through the General Film Co. The Motion Picture Patents Co. and

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528-705: The Crowd , Middle of the Night The Fugitive Kind , Odds Against Tomorrow , BUtterfield 8 , Girl of the Night , Let's Rock , and Pretty Boy Floyd (film) , were filmed there. The Dick Van Dyke Show 1960 pilot , Head of the Family was filmed at Gold Medal Studios. Martin Poll sold the Gold Medal Studios property in 1961, when it was incorporated into a newer company unrelated to

572-659: The East Coast film community heard about Hollywood, other companies began to migrate there. Biograph's little film launched Hollywood as the future movie capital of the world. It opened a studio at Pico and Georgia streets in downtown Los Angeles (where the Los Angeles Convention Center now stands) in 1911, and sent a film crew to work there each year until 1916. Griffith left Biograph in October 1913 after finishing Judith of Bethulia , unhappy with

616-568: The Empire Trust Company, although some of the ex-Biograph staff were retained to manage the studio and laboratory facilities. Herbert Yates acquired the Biograph Studios facilities and film laboratory in 1928. Biograph Studios facilities and film laboratory were made a subsidiary of his Consolidated Film Industries in 1928. The studio facilities and laboratory burned down in 1980. In 1939, Iris Barry , founder of

660-552: The General Film Co. were found guilty of antitrust violation in October 1915 and dissolved. Shielded by the Trust, Biograph had been slow to enter feature film production. It contracted with the theatrical firm of Klaw & Erlanger in 1913 to produce movie versions of the latter's plays. Its first released feature, Classmates , came out in February 1914, after 69 other American features had been released in 1912–13. Distribution

704-450: The Gish sisters - Lillian and Dorothy , Lionel Barrymore , Henry B. Walthall , Mae Marsh , Mabel Normand , Harry Carey , Owen Moore , Robert Harron and director Mack Sennett . Due to their overwhelming popularity and the fact that their names were not credited, stars like Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford became known as the ' Biograph Girls ,' before screen credits began to become

748-519: The Trust's fall, Biograph found itself behind the times. The Biograph Co. released its last new feature-length films in 1915 and its last new short films in 1916. Biograph spent the remainder of the silent era reissuing its old films, and leasing its Bronx studio to other producers. When the company fell on financial hard times, the Biograph Studio facilities and film laboratory in the Bronx were acquired by one of Biograph Company's creditors,

792-475: The best possible sunlight. As of 1988, the foundations of this machinery were still extant. The company moved in 1906 to a brownstone a few blocks away at 11 East 14th Street , where it remained until 1913. The brownstone was torn down in the 1960s. It was at this location that D. W. Griffith began as a director, and quickly became the studio's focus. Griffith found and developed for the company stars such as Florence Lawrence , Blanche Sweet , Mary Pickford ,

836-515: The company Edison's chief competitor in the nickelodeon market. In the summer of 1896 the Biograph projector was released, offering superior image quality to Edison's Vitascope projector. The company soon became a leader in the film industry, with distribution and production subsidiaries around the world, including the British Mutoscope Co. In 1899 it changed its name to the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company , and in 1908 to simply

880-431: The company's resistance to larger budgets, feature film production or giving onscreen credit to him and the cast. With him went many of the Biograph actors, his cameraman Billy Bitzer and his production crew. As a final slight to Griffith, Biograph delayed release of Judith of Bethulia until March 1914, to avoid a profit-sharing arrangement the company had with him. In December 1908 Biograph joined Edison in forming

924-502: The early 1960s to focus on film production. In addition to his body of film work, Poll also produced television series, films and specials as well. His credits included The Dain Curse , a 1978 CBS television miniseries; The Fantastic Seven , a 1979 CBS television movie; and Diana: Her True Story , a TV film which aired on NBC in 1993 based on a book by Andrew Morton . Poll earned an Emmy nomination for executive producing

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968-624: The film department at the Museum of Modern Art , acquired 900 cans of film from the Actinograph Corp. Bronx Biograph studio and laboratory facitlies, which was closing its film vault and planning to destroy all the film. One uncompleted film, Lime Kiln Field Day (1913), with an all African American cast, was found among the many cans of film, and shown at MOMA in November 2014. From 1954 to 1957, Sterling Television Company distributed

1012-536: The film to the aperture. The camera itself punched a sprocket hole on each side of the frame as the film was exposed at 30 frames per second. A patent case victory in March 1902 allowed Biograph and other producers and distributors to use the less expensive 35 mm format without an Edison license, although Biograph did not completely phase out 68 mm production until autumn of 1903. Biograph offered prints in both formats to exhibitors until 1905, when it discontinued

1056-502: The height of silent film as a medium, Biograph was the most prominent U.S. film studio and one of the most respected and influential studios worldwide, only rivaled by Germany 's UFA , Sweden 's Svensk Filmindustri and France 's Pathé . The company was home to pioneering director D. W. Griffith and such actors as Mary Pickford , Lillian Gish , and Lionel Barrymore . The company was started by William Kennedy Dickson , an inventor at Thomas Edison 's laboratory who helped pioneer

1100-879: The interposition of closeups within a scene, and a moderated acting style more suitable for film. Although Griffith did not invent these techniques, he made them a regular part of the film vocabulary. His prolific output—often one new film a week—and willingness to experiment in many different genres helped the company become a major commercial success. Many early movie stars were Biograph performers, including Mary Pickford , Lionel Barrymore , Lillian Gish , Dorothy Gish , Robert Harron , Arthur V. Johnson , Florence Auer , Robert G. Vignola , Owen Moore , Alan Hale Sr. , Florence Lawrence , Blanche Sweet , Harry Carey , James Kirkwood Sr. , Mabel Normand , Henry B. Walthall , Mae Marsh , and Dorothy Davenport . Mack Sennett honed his craft as an actor and director of comedies at Biograph. After debuting at Biograph, Mary Pickford also became

1144-477: The larger format. Commenting on the 1902 Biograph Company short film The Flying Train , Ashley Swinnerton of the Museum of Modern Art said that the 68 mm format has become "of particular interest to researchers ... because the large image area affords stunning visual clarity and quality." Biograph films before 1903, were mostly "actualities," documentary film footage of actual persons, places and events, each film usually less than two minutes long, such as

1188-541: The largest film studio in the United States outside of Los Angeles at the time of its 1956 reopening, expanding in 1958. Gold Medal Studios building at 807 East 175th St & Marion Ave., in The Bronx , New York City , New York was photographed by Bronx Chamber of Commerce in 1957. Movies such as Alan Freed ' s Mister Rock and Roll (1957), Harold Robbins ' Never Love a Stranger , The Goddess (1958 film) , Act One (film) , That Kind of Woman A Face in

1232-411: The norm. The company used Fort Lee extensively for location shooting. Griffith left Biograph in October 1913, a few months after the company had begun moving its Manhattan operations to new, state-of-the-art facilities at 807 East 175th Street in The Bronx , another borough of New York City. Without Griffith, the studio did not prosper, and the company was dissolved in 1915, and the studio property

1276-506: The one of the Empire State Express , which premiered on October 12, 1896, in New York City. The occasional narrative film, usually a comedy, was typically shot in one scene, with no editing. Spurred on by competition from Edison and British and European producers, Biograph production from 1903 onward was increasingly dominated by narratives. As the stories became more complex the films became longer, with multiple scenes to tell

1320-414: The original Biograph Company, using the name Biograph Studios, Inc. It opened in 1961. The television series Naked City , Car 54, Where Are You? , and East Side/West Side , and movies such as The Incident , and John and Mary were filmed there. The Biograph Studio facilities went dormant again in the 1970s. The studio facilities and laboratory burned down in 1980. The site is now occupied by

1364-482: The remaining Biograph films collection was donated to the film department of the Museum of Modern Art . The Soundies Distributing Corporation filmed at the Biograph Studios in 1944. "Sprucing up of the Biograph Studio in the Bronx and the entrance of Fritz Mandl , former Austrian munitions tycoon, into the local film production scene last week, gave rise to reports that the long-stalled drive toward Eastern film making

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1408-455: The story, although an individual scene was still usually presented in one shot without editing. Biograph's production of actualities ended by 1908 in favor of the narrative film. The company's first studio was located on the roof of 841 Broadway at 13th St. in Manhattan , known then as the Hackett Carhart Building and today as the Roosevelt Building. The set-up was similar to Thomas Edison 's " Black Maria " in West Orange, New Jersey , with

1452-420: The studio facilities principal activity in that decade was the production of shorts for Universal , Columbia , and RKO , mostly involving New York-based actors and entertainers. The studio suspended operations in 1939, due partly to curtailment of the activities of independent producers because of World War II and partly to a decline in the commercial film market, according to its general manager. At this time,

1496-502: The studio itself being mounted on circular tracks to be able to get the best possible sunlight (as of 1988 the foundations of this machinery were still extant). The company moved in 1906 to a converted brownstone mansion at 11 East 14th Street near Union Square , a building that was razed in the 1960s. This was Biograph's first indoor studio, and the first movie studio in the world to rely exclusively on artificial light. Biograph moved again in 1913, as it entered feature-film production, to

1540-646: The technology of capturing moving images on film. Dickson left Edison in April 1895, joining with inventors Herman Casler , Harry Marvin and businessman Elias Koopman to incorporate the American Mutoscope Company in New Jersey on December 30, 1895. The firm manufactured the Mutoscope and made flip-card movies for it as a rival to Edison's Kinetoscope for individual "peep shows", making

1584-605: The televisions series, Flash Gordon , for distribution in West Germany and France. Poll purchased and restored the Biograph Studios , a studio facility and film laboratory complex in the Bronx , during the 1950s. He reopened the studios in 1956 under a new name, Gold Medal Studios. The reopening made the Bronx-based facility the largest film studio in the United States located outside of Los Angeles at

1628-498: The theater audience aware that they were watching an American Biograph movie (regardless of whether it was illegally "duped" or not) the AB logo would be prominently placed in random parts of the movie. Director D. W. Griffith joined Biograph in 1908 as a writer and actor, but within months became its principal director. In 1908, the company's head director Wallace McCutcheon grew ill, and his son Wallace McCutcheon Jr. took his place but

1672-558: The time. Poll helped create numerous films at Gold Medal Studios, including A Face in the Crowd in 1957, The Goddess in 1958, The Fugitive Kind in 1959, Middle of the Night in 1959, and BUtterfield 8 in 1960. Poll was appointed the Commissioner of Motion Picture Arts of New York City in 1959 for his work with Gold Medal Studios. The New York City government soon established its own film commission shortly after Poll's appointment. Poll sold Gold Medal Studios during

1716-434: Was again getting under way." Empire Trust later assigned management of the property to one of its own subsidiaries, The Actinograph Corp., which held it until 1948. Martin Poll (on July 21, 1959, sworn in as the Commissioner of Motion Picture Arts, by then Borough President of the Bronx , James J. Lyons ) restored the Biograph Studio facilities and reopened it in 1956 as the Gold Medal Studios. Gold Medal Studios became

1760-450: Was an adaptation of the 1999 published comic book series by Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill . Poll produced eleven studio films. His credits included two films loosely based on Russian and Japanese novels: Love and Death (as executive producer), which was based on a Russian novel and directed by Woody Allen in 1975, and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea in 1976, which

1804-579: Was at the center of a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox , claiming the company had intentionally plagiarized a script of theirs titled Cast of Characters in order to create the Sean Connery -starring League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film in 2003. According to the BBC , the lawsuit alleged 'that Mr Cohen and Mr Poll pitched the idea to Fox several times between 1993 and 1996, under the name Cast of Characters .' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

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1848-453: Was hampered by Biograph using a special perforation pattern on the Klaw & Erlanger features that was incompatible with standard projectors, forcing exhibitors to lease specialized equipment from Biograph in order to show the films. With the exodus of the studio's best actors to Griffith, Biograph was unable to develop a marketable star system as the independent companies were doing, and after

1892-472: Was leased out to other production companies after Biograph's production stopped. The studio facilities and laboratory were acquired by one of Biograph Company 's creditors, the Empire Trust Company, although some of the Biograph old management continued to manage it. Herbert Yates acquired the Biograph Studio properties and Film laboratory facilities in 1928. Biograph Studio facilities in The Bronx were made

1936-417: Was not able to make a successful film for the company. As a result of these failed productions, studio head Harry Marvin gave the position of head director to Griffith, whose first film was The Adventures of Dollie . Griffith helped establish many of the conventions of narrative film, including cross-cutting to show events occurring simultaneously in different places, the flashback , the fade-in/fade-out ,

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