Although the Vitagraph Company of America was founded in the 1890s, it wasn’t until the company opened its massive studio in Brooklyn in 1906 that the Big V became one of the major producers of its era. Exactly one hundred years later the site still stands, housing both an orthodox Jewish girls’ school and a television production facility. The Biograph studio in Manhattan and the New Jersey facilities of Vitagraph’s other competitors are long gone, but a smokestack with the vertical letters “Vitagraph” still hovers over Flatbush, marking an important site in movie history. To commemorate the centennial, this series offers Vitagraph films from the Museum’s collection. The selection begins with pictures from the studios earliest days on Avenue M in Brooklyn and ends just short of the purchase of the company by Warner Bros. in 1925. All films from the USA and directors unknown, unless otherwise noted.
Organized by Charles Silver, Associate Curator, Department of Film.
Thanks to Kevin Lewis, Mark Wannamaker, Thelma Schoonmaker, and the Motion Picture Editors Guil