ABSTRACT
On a hot summer night in July 1912 New York’s social and cultural elite flocked to the Lyceum Theater – a legitimate stage house at the time – to attend the premiere of the movie Queen Elizabeth starring acclaimed French actress Sarah Bernhardt. “The Divine Sarah” – as she was called – came to the screen after a half century on the stage. Queen Elizabeth was an historic event, and provided the foundation for feature-length films. Although the actress’s exaggerated dramatic gestures were a bit old-fashioned compared to the more streamlined body language encouraged by movie directors like Griffith after 1910, her aura was irresistible. In 1917 Everett Shinn’s work on the set of the silent movie Polly of the Circus involved recreating both a contemporary big top where Polly performed and the New England village where she recuperated from an injury.
