Paramount's lineage dates back to 1912, when Adolph Zukor, the owner of a New York nickelodeon, secured American distribution rights to Sarah Bernhardt's four-reel film, QUEEN ELIZABETH. The film's triumphant opening on July 12, 1912, as the first full-length drama shown in the United States prompted Zukor to found the Famous Players Film Company. Famous Players began to produce movies in New York, beginning with THE PRISONER OF ZENDA and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. A year later, Zukor invested in a film distribution company named Paramount Pictures.