Hollywood Comes to Plattsburgh: The Filming of Janice Meredith

“Marion Davies Edition” of Janice Meredith

On February 26, 1924, readers of the Plattsburgh Sentinel opened their morning papers to find some exciting news: the movies were coming to town! Cosmopolitan Pictures, William Randolph Hearst’s film production company, had chosen Plattsburgh as the location for the filming of Janice Meredith, with Marion Davies in the title role. Two years earlier, Davies had appeared to great acclaim in When Knighthood Was in Flower, a romantic drama set in Tudor England and based on a bestselling book by Charles Major. Janice Meredith, a romantic drama set during the Revolutionary War and based on the 1899 bestseller by Paul Leicester Ford, seemed guaranteed to enjoy box-office success and to cement Davies’s reputation as the top female film star of the day. The setting would capitalize on a growing interest in American history as the sesquicentennial approached, and would allow the filmmakers to claim that the movie had educational as well as entertainment value.

Front page of the San Francisco Examiner, February 3, 1922,
reporting on the trial of Roscoe Arbuckle and the murder of
William Desmond Taylor

This was important, because in 1924, the American movie industry was struggling to recover its reputation after a series of recent scandals. These included the mysterious death of director William Desmond Taylor, the trials of actor Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe, and the drug-related death of leading man Wallace Reid. Nationwide, there were calls for a boycott of Hollywood films, and there must have been many people in Plattsburgh who questioned the wisdom of inviting “motion picture people” of doubtful morals to their city. The Sentinel hoped to reassure concerned readers that Cosmopolitan Pictures was not like other film companies. It had, the paper reported on February 29, an “editorial policy of choosing historical plays to the exclusion of sex or questionable subjects....Their pictures are always received with enthusiasm by the most discriminating audiences.” The company also “maintain[s] an efficient research department whose duty it is to carefully plan and check every scene in order to picture it historically correct.” 

Less than two weeks later, carpenters were already putting the finishing touches on their version of the city of Trenton, which had been constructed near the rifle range at the Plattsburgh Barracks. A writer for the Daily Republican marveled at the realism of the set: “From a distance it is very hard for an onlooker to distinguish whether of not it is a reality.” In fact, what appeared to be buildings of brick and stone were “nothing more than heavy cardboard, molded and painted and nailed to the framework in such a way that the onlookers are led to believe that it is a reality.” Crews were also hard at work opening up the Saranac River so that it could play the role of the Delaware in a pivotal scene. The enlisted men of the 26th Infantry, stationed at the Plattsburgh Barracks, had been recruited to fill the roles of Continental, British, and Hessian soldiers, and would be joined by an additional 400 men from Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont.

Filming the Battle of Trenton at the Plattsburgh Barracks

By that time, many of the professional actors had arrived in Plattsburgh to begin filming some of the incidental scenes. Marion Davies herself arrived on March 10, along with her “secretaries, scenario editors and other staff men,” and took up residence at the Witherill Hotel. On the afternoon of March 13, Davies visited the barracks and was made Honorary Colonel of the regiment and reviewed a parade led by the regimental band. Meanwhile, cameramen were shooting scenes at the Booth estate on the Lake Shore Road. All of this activity was leading up to the day when the Battle of Trenton would be filmed, which happened on March 15. Marion Davies did not appear, but Joseph Kilgour—playing George Washington for the fourth time in his career—“took a prominent part in the battle scene and was mounted on a white charger.” Along with the soldiers, several wives of officers at the barracks took part in this scene.

By March 26, production had largely wrapped up and the Daily Press took this time to reflect upon the experience. If Cosmopolitan Pictures had hoped to change the attitudes of ordinary Americans toward the film industry, it certainly seemed to have succeeded in this case. “It is a matter of regret to everyone in Plattsburgh that the stay of these motion picture people has not been longer. It has been long enough, however, to give the residents of this city an insight to the type of men and women engaged in the industry and it may be said at once that this insight has revealed nothing that was not favorable to the artists and artisans connected with this great motion picture enterprise.” The writer of the editorial observed that people tended to think that they knew movie stars, because they read and heard so much about them, but now the people of Plattsburgh would be able to base their opinions on what they actually knew. They had seen that the cast and crew “conducted themselves as ladies and gentlemen at all times,” from the leading actors and actresses “down to the humblest workman.” They had attended “strictly to their own affairs” and done their jobs with “concentrated energy, enthusiasm and singleness of purpose.” 

Lobby Card for Janice Meredith

Normally, movies were not shown outside major cities until several months after their release. But since Plattsburgh had played such an important part in Janice Meredith, it was given the privilege of being the first place to show the film, less than two weeks after its premiere at the Cosmopolitan Theatre in New York. R.J. Henry, manager of the Clinton Theater, cancelled all other bookings for four days and put his orchestra to work rehearsing the musical score. To drum up additional interest in the film, “Mr. Henry is placing on display in his lobby and in several stores throughout the city photographic representations of many of the scenes in the picture, where they will be on view for the next week.” (He also had to quell rumors that moviegoers would be charged “New York prices” for the film, instead of the usual fifty cents.)

Ad for Janice Meredith from the Plattsburgh
Daily Republican, August 29, 1924

Janice Meredith received a rave review from the Daily Republican. Not only was it a marvelous piece of entertainment, anchored by a brilliant performance by Marion Davies, but it was filled with “the spirit of unmistakable and sincere Americanism” that produced “a frenzy of patriotism that was positively thrilling. Cheer after cheer followed each valorous deed of the Minute Men and each bold movement for freedom. One feels after seeing Janice Meredith one has seen the most enlightening picture of American history yet produced.” With responses like this, the motion picture industry must have felt it was on the right track toward repairing its reputation. Despite the acclaim her performance received, however, Marion Davies never quite reached the level of stardom she hoped for. If she’s remembered at all today, it’s probably as the aggressively untalented opera singer loosely based on her in Citizen Kane. You’ll have the opportunity to see Davies on screen and judge for yourself at our free showing of Janice Meredith this Thursday, September 19, starting at 7:00 p.m. The movie is approximately 2 and a half hours long; there will be an intermission and ample snacks will be provided!