Cooper Hewitt lights in 'The Mysteries of Myra'

Wharton, Inc. was an early

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

from 1914 to 1919. The Ithaca movie studio was established by brothers

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

and

Leopold Wharton Leopold Wharton (September 1, 1870 – September 27, 1927) was an American film director, producer and writer. He directed 37 films between 1911 and 1922, including the 1915 film ''The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford'', which featur ...

on the shores of

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is a ...

, at the site of what is now Stewart Park. Currently, efforts are underway to create a silent movie museum in the former Wharton movie studio building in Stewart Park.

Ithaca (1912 - 1920)

After filming a

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

- Penn football game on the way to visit family in Ludlowville, New York, Theodore Wharton returned to Ithaca in 1913 with a cast and crew that included Francis X. Bushman and

Beverly Bayne Beverly Bayne (born Pearl Beverly Van Name; November 11, 1894 – August 18, 1982) was an American actress who appeared in silent films beginning in 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, where she worked for Essanay Studios. Early life Born in Minneapoli ...

. A year later, his older brother Leopold joined him, and the two set up the Wharton Studio and began making films. The Wharton brothers were responsible for bringing many famous movie stars to Ithaca on the overnight train from New York City, making Ithaca the unofficial capital of the silent film industry. The movies were shot within elaborate studio sets and in natural sites around Ithaca including the gorges on the

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

campus and in the woods near Beebe Lake.

Santa Cruz (1926 - 1931)

In the early 1920s, the Wharton studio moved from Ithaca to

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

in response to promotion by Santa Cruz mayor Fred Swanton. By then the majority of the film industry had settled in Southern California and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

because of the ability to shoot year-round. The studio was incorporated as Wharton Film Classics, Inc. Leopold died in 1927 and Theodore in 1931, without ever making a movie in the city. Much of the evidence of the brothers' prolific cinematic career was lost in 1929, when hundreds of nitrate-based film reels belonging to the Wharton Brothers spontaneously combusted in the storage shed at the home of their lawyer.

Films produced at Ithaca Studios

* ''The Crooked Dagger'' (1919) * ''The Red Peril'' (1919) * ''A Romance of the Air'' (1918) * ''April Fool'' (1918) * ''

The Eagle's Eye ''The Eagle's Eye'' is a 1918 American serial film consisting of 20 episodes that dramatizes German espionage in the United States during World War I. The stories are based on the experiences of William J. Flynn during his career as chief of the U ...

'' (1918) * ''Mission of the War Chest'' (1918) * ''The Candidate'' (1918) * ''The Missionary'' (1918) * ''Below Zero'' (1917) * ''The Great White Trail'' (1917) * ''

The Black Stork ''The Black Stork'', also known as ''Are You Fit To Marry?'', is a 1917 American motion picture film both written by and starring Harry J. Haiselden, who was the chief surgeon at the German-American Hospital in Chicago. ''The Black Stork'' ...

'' (1917) * ''Patria'' (1917) * '' The Crusher'' (1917) * ''

Beatrice Fairfax ''Beatrice Fairfax'' is an American Silent film, silent film serial directed and produced by Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton. First released on August 7, 1916 in film, 1916, the series consists of 15 weekly episodes and features the charact ...

'' (1916) * '' The Lottery Man'' (1916) * ''The Mysteries of Myra'' (1916) * ''

Hazel Kirke ''Hazel Kirke'' is a play in four acts written by American actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. Overview The play was written between 1878 and 1879 in the town of Dublin, New Hampshire.Quinn, p. 497 MacKaye meant it to be expressly for New York ...

'' (1916) * ''The City'' (1916) * ''The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford'' (1915) * ''

The Romance of Elaine ''The Romance of Elaine'' is a 1915 American silent adventure film serial directed by George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton, based on the novel by Arthur B. Reeve. The film is considered to be lost. Cast * Pearl White as Elai ...

'' (1915) * ''

The New Exploits of Elaine ''The New Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1915 American action film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier, Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton. It is presumed to be lost. Cast * Pearl White as Elaine Dodge * Creighton Hale as Walter Jameson * Arn ...

'' (1915) * ''The Stolen Birthright'' (1914) * ''

The Exploits of Elaine ''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American film serial in the damsel in distress genre of '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1914). ''The Exploits of Elaine'' tells the story of a young woman named Elaine who, with the help of a detective, tries to f ...

'' (1914) * ''The Fireman and the Girl'' (1914) * ''A Prince of India'' (1914) * ''The Pawn of Fortune'' (1914) * ''The Warning'' (1914) * ''The Boundary Rider'' (1914)

References

External links

List of films made at the Wharton Studio at IMDB
* * "Silent Film Industry Blossoms in Ithaca," Cornell Daily Sun. Availabl
online

Ithaca Made Movies

Ithaca Silent Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton Studio Ithaca, New York Whartons, The 1914 establishments in New York (state) Mass media companies established in 1914 Mass media companies disestablished in 1931 Film production companies of the United States 1931 disestablishments in California