Lemoine Ave · Fort Lee, NJ

— Film History Was Made Here —

? ? ? ? ? The Solax Studio was built in 1912 by Alice Guy Blach?, who had begun directing films for the Gaumont Company in Paris in 1896. In 1907, Leon Gaumont sent Alice and her new husband, Herbert Blach?, to take charge of Gaumont's operations in the United States, and they opened a studio in Flushing, New York. Alice Blach? started her own company, Solax, in 1910, producing melodramas and one reel comedies in Flushing for the nickelodeon market.

? ? ? ? ? Solax prospered and moved to Fort Lee two years later, acquiring an acre of land on Lemoine Avenue. The original studio building was approximately 62 feet on each side, with offices and dressing rooms on the lower floors, and a glass-enclosed stage area above. Office buildings and a small laboratory were also constructed. The studio produced an average of two short films every week, ranging from action pictures like "Beasts of the Jungle" to the "Burstup Holmes" comedy detective series. When the market for short films collapsed, the Blach expanded the laboratory and began making feature pictures in partnership with Popular Plays & Players. Olga Petrova starred in many of these including "The Tigress" and "My Madonna."

? ? ? ? ? As the U. S. Amusement Corp., the Blach also produced and directed features for Path? Metro, and William Randolph Hearst's International Film Service. After 1917, the studio was rented to other producers, including Goldwyn, Fox, and Selznick. Francis Doublier's Hirlagraph Motion Picture Corp. acquired the property after Solax declared bankruptcy in 1922. It later passed to Consolidated Film Industries and Bonded Motion Pictures Properties, who expanded the laboratory and warehouse facilities. The studio building burned in 1929 and most of the remaining buildings were razed in 1965 to make way for a supermarket.

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