Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle by Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896)
By Bradley Towle
CATSKILL MOUNTAINS — The legend of Rip Van Winkle is baked into the cultural landscape of the Catskill Region. A Bridge, a golf course, a brewing company, and more rely on Washington Irving’s classic tale for their names, and related imagery and references can be found around every corner (including the heading of our Catskill Chronicle). Multiple towns claim they are the inspiration for the fictional village of Falling Waters in Irving’s classic tale (Irving later admitted to having never been to the Catskills when he wrote the story in 1818). The famous tale, derived from multiple ancient versions, continues to capture imaginations and remains an integral addition to American mythology.
In 1859, the renowned actor Joseph Jefferson adapted the story for the stage and built a career playing Rip Van Winkle beginning in 1865, taking on no other major roles from that point forward. When Thomas Edison’s film experiments began in earnest in the 1890s, Rip Van Winkle emerged as a ready-made tale for the new moving pictures, and Joseph Jefferson was the only actor for the job. Filmed as a series of eight short films at Jefferson’s home in Buzzards Bay, the shorts captured for posterity the 19th century’s most famous Rip Van Winkle, and in doing so, captured the earliest born human on film at the time: Born in 1829, Jefferson was 67 at the time of the filming (he shared an attorney with Abraham Lincoln). The time capsule offers a unique glimpse at the intersection of a fading era and an emerging modern world (a theme aligned with the very story of Rip Van Winkle). Joseph Jefferson passed away in 1905 at the age of 76.
Depictions of Rip Van Winkle on film continued into the 20th century. Jefferson’s 1896 portrayal was released as a four-minute compilation film in 1903. An Australian version was released in 1912, and two years later, Jospeh’s son Thomas Jefferson starred in a decidedly meta version of the story. In the 1914 film, Thomas Jefferson plays himself reading his father’s adaptation of the story for the stage when he is visited by Rip Van Winkle himself. It was the first of forty-nine films produced by the B.A. Rolfe Photoplays Company, which has another local connection: Rolfe Photoplays also produced The Awakening of Helena Richie, notable as the first-ever free outdoor screening of a film at Schoharie’s Free Street Movies in 1917. Rolph’s Rip Van Winkle does not seem lost to time but is also not readily available, possibly due to confusing circumstances. The 1914 version was rereleased in 1921, the same year another Rip Van Winkle film emerged. Complicating matters even more was that Thomas Jefferson starred in both films, reprising his father’s most famous role in the 1921 film. Rip Van Winkle, it seems, was the family business. The 1914 version also included Gertrude Robinson and H.D. Blakemore, who had performed on the stage with the elder Jefferson.
If someone were to look up Rip Van Winkle 1914 on YouTube or the Internet Archive, they would find it labeled as such, but it is the 1921 version mislabeled. Again, the film is not listed as lost, according to The Library of Congress. Still, it seems a bit elusive, which is unfortunate, as it may be the only one of the early Rip Van Winkle films starring one of the Jeffersons that was shot in the Catskill region. An advertisement promoting the film’s November 9th, 1914, release at the Hammerstein Lexington Theater touted the five-reel feature as having been shot in the Catskills “at the original locations.” B.A. Rolph’s films were shot primarily on the East Coast, and his familiarity with the area may have included the Catskills as an option for the production. Have you seen the 1914 version? Do you have any information about where it might have been filmed or how to view it? If so, please email me at mountaineaglebradley@gmail.com.
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