American ?clair Studios

American ?clair Studios (HM1156)

Location: Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Bergen County
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Country: United States of America
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N 40° 51.305', W 73° 58.433'

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Linwood Avenue · Fort Lee, NJ

— Film History Was Made Here —

? ? ? ? ? In 1911, the Soci?t? Francaise des Films et Cinematographs ?clair purchased land on the west side of Linwood Avenue for the construction of a motion picture studio in downtown Fort Lee. ?clair was a manufacturer of film and film apparatus founded in Paris in 1907. Their Fort Lee studio, a greenhouse-like structure with a 60 by 30 foot stage, was intended to produce short films for the growing American nickelodeon market. French technicians, including director Etienne Arnaud, cameraman Lucien Andriot, and set designer Ben Carr?, communicated with their American employees through the aid of an interpreter.

? ? ? ? ? Films made here in 1912 included "Robin Hood," "The Raven," and "Saved from the Titanic," in which ?clair star Dorothy Gibson recreated her escape from the doomed liner immediately following her rescue. That same year ?clair sent pioneer film animator Emile Cohl to Fort Lee, where he produced the first animated cartoon series, "The Newlyweds," featuring Baby Snookums. Poster artists employed by ?clair included the young Edward Hopper.

? ? ? ? ? ?clair expanded their studio and film laboratory in 1913, but on March 19, 1914 the laboratory was destroyed by fire when the flammable nitrate film ignited. Some ?clair personnel returned to France, while others joined Jules Brulatour's new Peerless studio on Lewis Street. The Fox Film Corporation, which operated several studios in New Jersey, eventually took over the reconstructed facility, which until its abandonment in 1926, was known as ?clair-Fox.
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HM NumberHM1156
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at 1:08pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 586487 N 4523176
Decimal Degrees40.85508333, -73.97388333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 40° 51.305', W 73° 58.433'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds40° 51' 18.30" N, 73° 58' 25.98" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)201
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 2019-2063 Linwood Ave, Fort Lee NJ 07024, US
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