THE NEVERSINK VALLEY MUSEUM

 INSTITUTE FOR EARLY FILM STUDIES

“It was here at Cuddiebackville [sic] that the first “fade” or blackout was used.  Pictures formerly came to a sudden stop at the end of every scene.  This always annoyed me, so one day I tried an experiment.  Taking a cigar box, I had it placed in front of the camera lens.  The lid of the box was lifted gradually before the lens so that when the scene was projected on the screen, instead of that sudden stop – it faded off.  The picture in which this effect was first used was The Last of the Mohicans [sic, the film was “leatherstocking” based on “Mohicans”], starring Mary Pickford and Owen Moore.

 “Later we had a metal iris made by the local blacksmith in Cuddiebackville and discarded the cigar box.  Some of the studio heads did not like this effect. Either, complaining that is used up extra film, but the idea was soon generally adopted, and the dissolve is used today in every picture.”

                                 D.W. Griffith,                                                      “The Man Who Invented  Hollywood”

Exploring the history of early films, especially those made in our region.  We offer lectures, screenings and are building a library of films, books and artifacts pertaining to early motion picture making.  This library includes:

The Noel Mackisoc Film Collection

Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Mackisoc and his family and the supporters of the NVAM, we have been able to obtain this collection of more than 350 films that date to 1931 and before.  For  more information, please contact the museum.

Some of the people who worked here are: D.W. Griffith, G.W. "Billy Bitzer"  Mary Pickford, Owen Moore. Mack Sennett, James Kirkwood, Florence Lawrence,  Mabel Normand, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, James Young Dear.

Companies that filmed here include Biograph, Pathe Freres, and Thanhouser.

Screenings and lectures are listed under the "Events" page.

HERE ARE FILMS MADE IN OUR TOWN (as listed on Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com )

  • Broken Doll, The (1910)
  • Comata, the Sioux (1909)
  • Fair Exchange, A (1909)
  • Fools of Fate (1909)
  • Forest Rose, The (1912)
  • Gold Necklace, A (1910)
  • Hessian Renegades, The (1909)
    ...aka 1776
    ...aka 1776, or The Hessian Renegades
  • In Life's Cycle (1910)
  • In Old Kentucky (1909)
  • Indian Runner's Romance, The (1909)
  • Leather Stocking (1909)
  • Little Darling, The (1909)
  • Mended Lute, The (1909)
  • Modern Prodigal, The (1910)
  • Mountaineer's Honor, The (1909)
  • Muggsy Becomes a Hero (1910)
  • Revenue Man and the Girl, The (1911)
  • Squaw's Love, The (1911)
  • Summer Idyll, A (1910)
  • Wilful Peggy (1910)

    • In 1916 Griffith Recalled:                                                      “I discovered Cuddybackville [sic], the most beautiful, altogether the loveliest spot in America…There is a  quality about the light there, particularly a twilight that I have never found elsewhere; it is transcendently illuminative for [moving] pictures.”                                                                                  ---- Photoplay June-November 1916

     

     

    A GREAT PLACE TO GO IS: indiefilmpage.com

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