Editing Star Theatre (film)

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Star Theatre
| image          = Star Theatre.webm
| caption        = the full film
| director       = [[F.S. Armitage]]
| producer       = [[American Mutoscope and Biograph Company]]
| writer         = 
| starring       = 
| cinematography = [[F.S. Armitage]]
| editing        = 
| distributor    = 
| released       = {{film date|1901}}
| runtime        = 1 minute, 58 seconds
| country        = United States
| language       = Silent film
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}
'''''Star Theatre''''' (also known as '''''Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre''''') is a 1901 short [[documentary film]] in which [[time-lapse photography]] is used to show the dismantling and demolition of [[New York City]]'s [[Wallack's Theatre|Star Theatre]] over a period of about a month.

Produced by the [[American Mutoscope and Biograph Company]] (often shortened to Biograph), it was filmed by [[F.S. Armitage]].  In 2002, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States [[Library of Congress]], and selected for preservation in its [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-02-176/librarian-of-congress-adds-25-films-to-national-film-registry/2002-12-17/|website=Library of Congress|accessdate=25 January 2018|date=17 December 2002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-09-25|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Production==
Formerly called [[Wallack's Theatre]], the Star Theatre was located across the street from Biograph's offices on Thirteenth Street and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] in [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. Taking advantage of his view from his office, Armitage set up a camera and used "a specifically devised electric apparatus" to shoot every four minutes, eight hours a day. He also shot about thirty seconds of standard exposures at the beginning and end of the demolition process to set and close the scene.

Biograph publicists encouraged exhibitors to show the film advancing regularly and in reverse, adding "The effect is very extraordinary."<ref>{{Cite book|title=America's film legacy : the authoritative guide to the landmark movies in the National Film Registry|last=Eagan, Daniel.|date=2010|publisher=Continuum|others=National Film Preservation Board (U.S.)|isbn=9781441116475|location=New York|pages=10|oclc=676697377|url=https://archive.org/details/americasfilmlega0000eaga/page/9/mode/1up}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title | 0000410 | Star Theatre}}
* {{Internet Archive film|id=star_theatre_1901|name=Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre}}
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/lcmp002.m2b01464 ''Star Theatre'', Library of Congress]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Theatre (film)}}
[[Category:1901 films]]
[[Category:1901 documentary films]]
[[Category:1901 short films]]
[[Category:1900s American films]]
[[Category:1900s short documentary films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American short documentary films]]
[[Category:American silent short films]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Biograph Company films]]
[[Category:Black-and-white documentary films]]
[[Category:Documentary films about New York City]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]

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