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Before Hollywood,
There Was
Fort Lee, N.J.
Early Moviemaking
in New Jersey
(1964)

This documentary covers the early years of film production, which was somewhat concentrated in Fort Lee, outside the city of New York.

Flicker Alley
2017 DVD edition

Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee, N.J.: Early Moveiemaking in New Jersey (1964), color and black & white, 40 minutes, not rated, with The New York Hat (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, The Wishing Ring (1914), color-toned black & white, 60 minutes, not rated, and A Girl’s Folly (1917) [exerpts], color-toned black & white, 30 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, distributed by MovieZyng,
FA-MD3-026, UPC 8-89290-24798-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95 (raised to $21.99).
Release date: 28 March 2017.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition of Thomas Hanlon’s documentary is presented from a very-good source print, with modern picture inserts of some of the sample film clips.

This edition should be of similar quality to the FPA disc noted below. This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
FLICKER ALLEY through . . .

Film Preservation Associates
2003 DVD edition

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID1855DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-18552-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 10 chapter stops; insert booklet; standard DVD keepcase; $24.99.
Release date: 20 May 2003.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This DVD edition of Thomas Hanlon’s documentary is presented from a very-good source print, with modern picture inserts of some of the sample film clips.

Supplemental material includes an insert booklet featuring an essay by Richard Koszarski.

Surprisingly, with such a short documentary, we feel that the films should be the focus of this disc and the documentary should be its supplemental material. Overall, the image quality is very-good and the experience a little like sitting in a classroom and watching a 16mm school district circulation print.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .

Reel Classic DVD
201? DVD edition

Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee, N.J.: Early Moveiemaking in New Jersey (1964), color and black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with The Great Train Robbery (1903), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Reel Classic DVD, no catalog number, UPC 7-62184-80712-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 201?.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is accompanied by the film’s original soundtrack.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from
REEL CLASSIC DVD through . . .