An excerpt fromThe Encyclopedia of New York.
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The first onscreen kissfifty feet of celluloid, running about twenty secondswas shown in New York in 1896.
The city was also a cinematic laboratory where several notable genres were created.
Films like 1910sA Tin-pop in Romanceand 1912sUp Against Itwere simple and charming, though not particularly New Yorky.
(The former is set on an empty beach, the latter mostly in drawing rooms.)
Oddly enough, the city emerged as a popular setting only after the industry began to move west.
Romantic comedies are driven by connection, and the city was an ideal cinematic setting for finding unlikely romance.
