When I was in high school I had bought a
book about some interesting historical facts about New Jersey. Before you ask
yourself why on earth would I buy a book about New Jersey, I live in the Garden
State down the shore. Anyway, one of the most interesting things I read in the
book was that NJ was used as a filming location for early silent films.
Directors like D.W. Griffith used to go to the town of Fort Lee to make their
films. For all that time that piece of information about NJ being the first
Hollywood always stuck with me. Now that I have become a film enthusiast and
have researched film history I find that fact even more interesting and
special. It is awesome to know that New Jersey, the state that everyone makes
fun for The Jersey Shore, silly accents, and guidos, played an important part
in shaping the modern movie industry and helped to build the careers of
Griffith, Paramount, Alice Guy Blaché, Mary Pickford, the Barrymores, and the
Gish sisters.
After
all this time I have finally watched a silent film that was made in Fort Lee
entitled The New York Hat.
A
young girl named Mollie Goodhue (Mary Pickford) has lost her mother. Before the
mother died she wrote a letter to the local minister Pastor Bolton (Lionel
Barrymore) to take whatever money she was able to save and use it to help buy
her daughter nice things that were denied to her by the girl’s father.
In
the village is a hat shop with the latest hats from New York City. Mollie
stands outside with some girls her age looking at the nice hats in the window
wishing they could have one. Bolton passes by the shop and notices Mollie
looking longingly at a ten dollar hat. Bolton goes inside and buys the hat for
her. The local gossips just so happened to be in the store at the time Bolton
buys the hat and soon enough word about his purchase spreads all over town.
Bolton
brings the hat to Mollie. He leaves before she opens the box. When she sees he
has bought her the hat she saw in the window she is happy, sad, and delighted
all at the same time.
At
church that Sunday the women notice Mollie is wearing the hat Pastor Bolton
bought during the week. The three gossips from the store are up in arms using
their vicious tongues to tell Mollie’s father what they have imagined has been
going on. When Mollie comes home her father asks her about the hat. When she
tells him that Pastor Bolton did buy her the hat, her father takes the gift and
rips it apart.
Upset
Mollie runs to Bolton in a flood of tears to tell him what has happened to his
gift. Not long after that the gossips and, possibly their husbands, angrily
come to Pastor Bolton to speak to him and accuse him of a scandal. When they
arrive Bolton shows them the letter Mrs. Goodhue had written to him before she
died. Mr. Goodhue also comes and is also shown the letter. Everything that has
happened was all a misunderstanding from malicious gossip.
I
liked The New York Hat. It was a cute
story. Mary Pickford was perfect in her part as Mollie. At this time she was
only nineteen years old. You can see she had that something that would make her
one of the world’s most famous actresses. Lionel Barrymore was also very good.
It was nice to see him as a good guy and to see him so young. Lillian and Dorothy Gish and Jack Pickford
have background parts. The Gish sisters are in the shop scene and Jack has a
small part that you have to really look for or know what he looks like in the
church scene.
The New York Hat is great to watch if
you are interested in film history because the film industry was just really
starting out and this is where some of the most important stars of silent
Hollywood began their careers.
If
anyone is interested in learning about Fort Lee, NJ pertaining to the film
industry please visit the website: Fort Lee Film Commission
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