It was late in May of 1909, and D.W. Griffith was putting the finishing touches on his plan for a trip that would forever change the business of making movies. Those changes would begin right here in Sullivan County.

Griffith was a rising young director at Biograph Studios in New York when in June of 1909 he brought a film crew to Cuddebackville, just over the Orange County line, to escape the city’s oppressive heat. It is believed to be the first time in the fledgling industry’s history that such a large group would embark on such a long journey for such a long stay. Shortly thereafter, such on-location film shoots would be commonplace.

Griffith and a group that included actress Mary Pickford, actor/director Mack Sennett and cameraman Billy Bitzer, rode a ferry to Weehawken, New Jersey, took the O&W Railway to Summitville, and then the branch line that the O&W had constructed (when it assumed ownership of the Port Jervis & Monticello Railroad in 1903) through Port Jervis to Cuddebackville. It was a half a day’s journey. The filmmakers checked in at the Caudebec Inn – an aging three-story summer hotel that could accommodate eighty guests – on the evening of June 26, and shortly after sunrise the next morning began exploring the nearby countryside for suitable filming locations.

In his 1970 book, “D.W. Griffith: The Years at Biograph,” Robert M. Henderson wrote:

 “The physical and geographical nature of Cuddebackville to some extent dictated the kinds of stories Griffith could film there. There were several scenic features that would add unusual touches to the backgrounds: the old canal; the Neversink River passing through the hills; impressive rocky cliffs; river rapids; a large pond in a wide place beneath one of the canal dams called ‘the Basin’ and in the near vicinity there were several stone buildings dating back to colonial days, in reasonably good states of repair.”

On Tuesday, June 28, Griffith began work on the first of what would become known as his “Cuddebackville films,” one-reelers that would help establish the grammar of film, as well as the careers of several future Hollywood notables. That first movie was entitled “The Mended Lute” and it was filmed largely in Oakland Valley, in the town of Forestburgh in Sullivan County, about four miles from the Inn. In fact, although the Caudebec Inn would always serve as the group’s headquarters on their trips upstate, most of the filming was usually done in Sullivan County. Griffith found that the unspoiled wilderness was perfectly suited to the western and colonial themes of many of his films.

According to Henderson, that first Cuddebackville movie was a “stirring romance of the Dakotas” shot on the banks of the Neversink River.

“A small Indian village was constructed for a set,” he wrote. “The cast featured Owen Moore, Florence Lawrence, and James Kirkwood. Considerable authenticity of detail was achieved by using a real Indian couple, Young Deer and his wife, as technical experts. The Indian costumes, headdresses, and equipment have a highly realistic look. The feature attraction of the picture was a canoe chase filmed on ‘the Basin’ as well as on the Neversink.”

A second Indian picture followed – “The Indian Runner’s Romance”– which was started on the second day and filmed alternately with “The Mended Lute,” featuring Arthur Johnson as a villainous cowboy, James Kirkwood as the Indian hero, and Mary Pickford as an Indian girl. 

Griffith and his crew would come back again and again that summer and throughout the next two. During the filming that took place in and around Sullivan County, Griffith experimented with many of the innovative techniques that would later become his trademark, including shooting a scene with three cameras.

A number of the frequent visitors to the area would eventually become household names in the movie industry. Mack Sennett, who made his directorial debut with a short Cuddebackville film called ‘The Little Darling,” later became famous for his Keystone Kops comedies. Florence Lawrence was the silent screen’s first big star, and the first to have her name used to promote a film. Mabel Normand became the big screen’s premier comedienne.

Donald Crisp, who assisted Griffith with directing chores during several Cuddebackville trips, later turned to acting and enjoyed a storied career, culminating in an Academy Award for his role in “How Green Was My Valley.” Billy Bitzer is generally regarded as the industry’s first great cameraman.

It was Bitzer who noted that there was a special golden hued light that swept through the area most evenings that provided unparalleled pictures. Bitzer dubbed the phenomenon “magic hour,” and “the light Mr. Griffith waited for.” The light brought Griffith and his crew back to the area year after year before he discovered the advantages of filming in California and became known as “the man who invented Hollywood.”

Mary Pickford, born in Canada as Gladys Smith, not only made the transition during the Cuddebackville years from frightened ingénue to leading lady, but also began to exhibit the business acumen and movie-making instincts that made her one of America’s richest women after she co-founded United Artists Studios.

And Griffith and his crew were not the only moviemakers to find Sullivan County a great place to film in 1909. Coincidentally, a small group calling themselves Bison Pictures arrived in the tiny hamlet of Neversink, on the opposite end of the county from Griffith’s headquarters, that very same summer.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian and a founder and president of The Delaware Company. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com.