Edison [videorecording] : the invention of the movies / Kino International ; The Museum of Modern Art in cooperation with the Library of Congress ; produced by Bret Wood.
Interviews with: Steven Higgins, Charles Musser, Patrick Loughney, Michele Wallace, Eileen Bowser, Paul Israel, Richard Koszarski. Contains all 140 complete films produced by the Edison Company between 1889-1918. Special features: All films are restored and newly mastered, with all new musical scores ; over 200 scans - including stills, script fragments, interoffice memos, and promotions; film by film program notes ; interviews with film historians and film preservationists.
Contents:
Edwin S. Porter and James Blair Smith (1903) [Hand-tinted] -- great train robbery Monkeyshines, no. 1 -- Monkeyshines, no. 2 / / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1899-1890) -- Dickson greeting -- Newark athlete (with Indian clubs) -- Men boxing / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1891) -- Blacksmithing scene -- The barber shop / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1893) -- Edison kinetoscopic record of a sneeze, January 7, 1894 -- Athlete with wand -- Sandow -- Carmencita -- The boxing cats (Prof. Welton's) -- Caicedo with pole -- Annabelle butterfly dance -- Cockfight, no. 2 -- Corbett and Courtney before the kinetograph -- Sioux ghost dance -- Buffalo dance -- Hadj Cheriff -- Glenroy bros., no. 2 -- Louis Martinetti -- Bucking broncho -- Annie Oakley -- Imperial Japanese dance -- Robetta and Doretto, no. 2 -- Band drill -- Fire rescue scene / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1894) -- Billy Edwards and the unknown / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1895)-- Dickson experimental sound film / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1894-95) -- Princess Ali / W. K. L. Dickson and William Heise (1895) -- Annabelle serpentine dance / William Heise (1895) [hand-tinted] -- The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots / Alfred Clark and William Heise (1895) -- Amy Muller -- The John C. Rice-May Irwin kiss / William Heise (1896) -- Shooting the chutes -- Fatima, muscle dancer -- Mess call -- Inventor Edison sketched by world artist -- Watermelon eating contest -- The lone fisherman -- Interrupted lovers -- Feeding the doves -- A morning bath -- The burning stable -- Mounted police charge -- Going to the fire -- A morning alarm -- Black Diamond Express, no. 1 -- American Falls from above, American side -- The first sleigh ride -- The morning alarm / William Heise and James White (1896) -- Fifth Avenue, New York -- Mr. Edison at work in his chemical laboratory / William Heise and James White (1897) -- Return of lifeboat / James White and Frederick Blechynden (1897) -- Troop ships for the Philippines / James White and Frederick Blechynden (1898) -- U.S. troops landing at Daiquiri, Cuba / William Paley (1898) -- Shooting captured insurgents / [Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming] (1898) -- The burglar on the roof / J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith (1898) -- Firemen rescuing men and women / [J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith ?] (1899) -- A wringing good joke / James White (1899) -- Gold rush scenes in the Klondike / Thomas Crahan and Robert K. Bonine (1899) -- Searching on Broadway for dead bodies, Galveston / Albert E. Smith (1900) -- The kiss / Filmmaker(s) unknown (1900) -- Capture of Boer battery by British -- New Black Diamond Express -- A storm at sea / James White (1900) -- Old maid having her picture taken (1 min.) -- Another job for the undertaker (2 min.) -- Pan-American Exposition by night (1 min.) -- Trapeze disrobing act (2 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming (1901) -- High diving scene (1 min.) -- Photographing a country couple (1 min.) / Filmmaker(s) unknown (1901) -- What happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1 min., 30 sec.) / [Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming ?] (1901) -- The burning of Durland's Riding Academy (3 min., 30 sec.) -- Burlesque suicide, no. 2 (2 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and James Blair Smith (1902) -- Jack and the beanstalk (10 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming (1902) -- Interrupted bathers (1 min.) / [Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming] (1902) -- Electrocuting an elephant (1 min., 30 sec.) / James Blair Smith or Edwin S. Porter (1903) -- The life of an American fireman (7 min.) / Edwin S. Porter, George S. Fleming and James H. White (1903) -- Egyptian fakir with dancing monkey (1 min., 30 sec.) -- A scrap in black and white (1 min.) / Alfred C. Abadie (1903) -- Uncle Tom's cabin (19 min.) / Edwin S. Porter, Arthur White and others (1903) -- The gay shoe clerk (1 min.) -- What happened in the tunnel (1 min.) -- Rector's to Claremont (3 min.) / Edwin S. Porter (1903) -- Turning the tables (1 min.) / Alfred C. Abadie and N. Dushane Cloward (1903) -- The great train robbery (12 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and James Blair Smith (1903) [Hand-tinted] -- Charles J. Brabin (1912) -- unsullied shield Cohen's fire sale (13 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and Wallace McCutcheon (1907) -- The rivals (12 min.) -- College chums (11 min.) -- The trainer's daughter or a race for love (14 min.) -- Laughing gas (9 min.) -- A little girl who did not believe in Santa Claus (14 min.) -- A suburbanite's ingenious alarm (7 min.) -- Rescued from an eagle's nest (7 min.) / Edwin S. Porter and J. Searle Dawley (1907) -- Fireside reminiscences (8 min.) -- Cupid's pranks (10 min.) -- Tale the autumn leaves told (fragment) (1 min., 30 sec.) / Edwin S. Porter and J. Searle Dawley (1908) -- The House of Cards (16 min.) / Director unknown (1909) [digitally tinted] -- New York of today (7 min.) / Director unknown German exhibition print with optional English subtitles (1910) -- How Bumptious papered the parlor (4 min.) / Ashley Miller (1910) -- Thirty days at hard labor, from The Halberdier of the little Rheinschloss by O. Henry (16 min.) -- The passer-by (17 min.) / Oscar C. Apfel (1912) -- The Totville Eye (14 min.) / C. Jay Williams (1912) -- The public and private care of infants (14 min.) / Carlton King and Charles M. Seay (1912) -- An unsullied shield (17 min.) / Charles J. Brabin (1912) -- Alan Crosland (1918). unbeliever At Bear Track Gulch (14 min.) / Harold M. Shaw (1913) -- The ambassador's daughter (14 min.) / Charles J. Brabin (1913) -- A serenade by Proxy (14 min.) [hand-tinted] -- All on account of a transfer (11 min.) / C. Jay Williams (1913) -- One touch of nature (16 min.) / Edward C. Taylor (1914) -- The adventure of the hasty elopement (15 min.) / Charles M. Seay (1914) -- The wonders of magnetism (8 min.) / Director unknown (1915) -- Black eyes (15 min.) / Will Louis (1915) -- The lone game (16 min.) / Edward C. Taylor (1915) -- The unbeliever (85 min.) / Alan Crosland (1918).
Summary:
Commercial motion pictures were invented at the Edison Laboratory between 1888 and 1893. Perhaps none of the component parts were strictly new, but the ability of Edison and his staff to reorganize them for a specific purpose was an extraordinary cultural achievement. In 1894, Edison was the sole producer of motion pictures in the world. Many Edison films continue to be impressive as the company employed such accomplished early directors as John Collins and Alan Crosland.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.