Capellani arrived in New York in March 1915. He was hired almost immediately by the World Film Corporation, a film company based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, then the hub of filmmaking in America. Several French filmmakers and technicians worked for the company, such as Maurice Tourneur and Emile Chautard. Capellani’s name was mentioned in the American trade press as the “visualizer of Les Misérables,” establishing him as one of the greatest filmmakers of the time.