World/Peerless & Metropolitan Studios

World/Peerless and Metropolitan Studios. Lewis Street . Fort Lee, NJ.. , Jules Brulatour, who had earned a fortune as the agent for George Eastman’s motion picture film, built the Peerless studio on Lewis Street in 1914. It was the original home of the World Film Corporation, which Brulatour formed with William Brady and the Shubert brothers, Broadway impresarios interested in the new concept of feature length films., They installed Lewis J. Selznick as general manager, and took over most of the technical staff that had been working next door at the old Éclair studio, notably directors Maurice Tourneur and Emile Chautard. Films made here included Tourneur’s “The Wishing Ring” (1914) with Vivian Martin, as well as “Wildfire” (1915) with Lillian Russell and Lionel Barrymore, and “Camille” (1915) with Clara Kimball Young, directed by Albert Capellani. The studio was leased to independent producers after World ceased production in 1919., Later known as Fort Lee Studios, it was renamed Metropolitan Sound Studios after talkies arrived. Various ethnic, racial, and religious groups, ignored by Hollywood, produced films of their own here in the early days of sound, including “Uncle Moses” (1932), starring Maurice Schwartz, “Corianton” (1931), a Mormon religious spectacle, and several Italian-language features. African-American producer Oscar Micheaux made some of his most important films at the Metropolitan. When it caught fire in 1958, the studio was again being used by the Shuberts, this time as a theatrical warehouse.