Filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey--which, at the time, was the center of the American film industry, before it moved west to Hollywood.
This was the first cinematic fantasy masterpiece for Hollywood, before "Snow White," and "The Wizard of Oz" knocked it off its perch. Now it's been largely forgotten.
This heavily stylized film features many unusual sets and costumes and was a precursor of the expressionist German cinema, such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Before becoming a filmmaker, director Maurice Tourneur studied as an illustrator and, for a time, was an assistant to the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. Tourneur used set design and lighting effects to give this film an expressionistic look.
In 2004 this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in its National Film Registry.
Director Maurice Tourneur grew up in France and worked at the famed film company Éclair. Éclair was interested in expanding its market in the US. So in 1914, since Tourneur spoke fluent English, it asked him to move there to manage its studio in Fort Lee, NJ. Shortly after arriving in Fort Lee he began working for other studios--including Paramount, which released this picture.
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