The Höritz Passion Play as this filmed Passion Play became to be known, was one of the most popular and widely available of the first filmed Passion stories. In the United States, it was the first produced, although not in the country, as the producers acquired the rights to film the Passion Play in the city of Höritz, Austria (now, Hořice na Šumavě in the Czech Republic) where it was filmed. The peasants there had perfected the play over many years and made it quite a tourist attraction. The producers of the film were Mark Klaw & Abraham Erlanger (Klaw & Erlanger), that was contacted by the Lumiere representative, Charles Smith Hurd, who worked out the makings of the film with the townspeople. The whole filmed play contained scenes from both the Old Testament as well as the Gospels. Because of turbulence relating to earlier staged Passion Plays, the United States release was made slowly and carefully and packaged into a one and a half-hour lecture with music and hymns. Because of the many involvements in the movie, it has many names. Some call it a "Klaw & Erlanger film", "the Freeman film", "a Lumiere film" or "the Höritz Passion Play". The film was also later acquired and distributed by Edison but with less of the scenes from the Old Testament. The length of the film was originally 5000 feet and 42 scenes, but at the time Edison distributed it the film was cut down to 2700 feet and contained around 30 scenes (the original footage included documentary scenes of the town and preparations for the play). The film is now lost.