Filmmaker Marc J. Perez's titular documentary short anchors this double-disc set profiling the cinematic legacy of Fort Lee, NJ, which for a brief period during the silent era was one of the centers of American filmmaking. As movies matured from nickelodeon distraction to big business but before Hollywood became the center of the filmmaking industry, New York City was the moviemaking hub. To meet the demands of bigger and more ambitious films, filmmakers looked to Fort Lee for its variety of locations (wilderness, seashore, and city streets within easy travel distance) and inexpensive real estate on which to build larger studio sets. Based on the 2004 book Fort Lee: The Film Town by Richard Kozarski, The Champion focuses on Champion Studio, one of a dozen studios that flourished in Fort Lee in the 1910s, but its overall scope encompasses the history and culture of the town's brief reign as a filmmaker center. Also included here is the newly-restored 1935 silent short documentary Ghost Town: The Story of Fort Lee, a wistful survey of the city, the countryside locations, and the abandoned studios of the former film center after its decline. And the set features five short films made between 1910-13 by Champion Studios, along with two additional shorts made at Fort Lee (including the first American version of Robin Hood from 1912), and the 1918 "melodramatic comedy" feature The Danger Game with Madge Kennedy. With new music scores by Ben Model, Donald Sosin, and Rodney Sauer, this tribute to early American cinema is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Axmaker)
The Champion
(2017) 2 discs. 117 min. DVD: $19.98. Milestone/Oscilloscope (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 1
The Champion
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