Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the

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 Filmmaking, film production an ...

at 807 East 175th Street, in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York, which was preceded by two locations in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

History

841 Broadway

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

, known then as the Hackett Carhart Building and today as the Roosevelt Building. The set-up was similar to

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

's " Black Maria" in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

, being mounted on circular tracks to be able to get the best possible sunlight. As of 1988, the foundations of this machinery were extant.

11 East 14th Street

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 Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was long thought to be the first film act ...

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the early days of the motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first name Sarah was ra ...

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

, the Gish sisters - Lillian and Dorothy, Lionel Barrymore, Henry B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, Mabel Normand, Harry Carey,

Owen Moore Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish people, Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937. Early life and career Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. A ...

, Robert Harron and director

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...

., p.147-48 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 the norm. The company used Fort Lee extensively for location shooting. Biograph poster2

807 East 175th Street

Griffith left Biograph in October 1913,Bitzer, G. W
''Billy Bitzer: His Story''
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1973, p. 90. Retrieved via Internet Archive, June 16, 2023; hereinafter cited as "Bitzer". . 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

, another

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of New York City. Without Griffith, the studio did not prosper, and the company was dissolved in 1915, and the studio property was leased out to other production companies after Biograph's production stopped. The studio facilities and laboratory were acquired by one of

'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 a subsidiary of his Consolidated Film Industries. Some advertising films and a few

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s were made at the studio in the 1930s, including ''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'' (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 Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and c ...

production '' The Notorious Elinor Lee'' (1940). However, 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and partly to a decline in the commercial film market, according to its general manager. At this time, the remaining Biograph films collection was donated to the film department of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. 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 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.

Gold Medal Studios

Martin Poll (on July 21, 1959, sworn in as the Commissioner of Motion Picture Arts, by then Borough President of

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, James J. Lyons) restored the Biograph Studio facilities and reopened it in 1956 as the Gold Medal Studios.The Bronx Stage and Film Company
History
. Gold Medal Studios became 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

, New York was photographed by Bronx Chamber of Commerce in 1957. Movies filmed at Gold Medal Studios include

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

s ''Mister Rock and Roll'' (1957), Harold Robbins '' Never Love a Stranger,

The Goddess (1958 film) ''The Goddess'' is a 1958 American drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Cromwell (director), John Cromwell and starring Kim Stanley and Lloyd Bridges. From a screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, the film is an in-depth character stu ...

, Act One (film), That Kind of Woman '' A Face in the Crowd'',

Middle of the Night Middle of the Night may refer to: * Middle of the Night (novel), ''Middle of the Night'' (novel), a 2024 novel by Riley Sager * ''Middle of the Night'', a 1954 play by Paddy Chayefsky * Middle of the Night (film), ''Middle of the Night'' (film), a ...

The Fugitive Kind, '' Odds Against Tomorrow'', ''

BUtterfield 8 ''BUtterfield 8'' is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. The film was based on a 1935 novel of the same ...

'', Girl of the Night, Let's Rock, and Pretty Boy Floyd (film). The 1960

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

of The Dick Van Dyke Show, '' Head of the Family'', was filmed at Gold Medal Studios.

Biograph Studios, Inc.

Martin Poll sold the Gold Medal Studios property in 1961, when it was incorporated into a newer company unrelated to the original Biograph Company, using the name Biograph Studios, Inc. It opened in 1961. The television series '' Naked City'', ''

Car 54, Where Are You? ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City Po ...

'', and ''

East Side/West Side ''East Side/West Side'' is an American Dramatic programming, drama series starring George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson, and, later on, Linden Chiles. The series aired for one season (1963–1964), and was shown Monday nights on CBS. ...

'', 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."Bronx Blaze Damages Old Biograph Studios," ''The New York Times'', July 9, 1980, p. B4. The site is now occupied by a New York City Department of Sanitation garage.

References

{{reflist Early film in Fort Lee, New Jersey Entertainment companies established in 1912 Mass media companies established in 1912 Mass media companies disestablished in 1980 1980 fires in the United States Silent film studios Defunct American film studios Entertainment companies based in New York City 1912 establishments in New York City 1980 disestablishments in New York (state) Morrisania, Bronx