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Edison
The Invention of
the Movies
(1891-1918)

Contents: [Monkeyshines, no. 1] (1890), [Monkeyshines, no. 2] (1890), [Dickson Greeting] (1891), [Men Boxing] (1891), [Newark Athlete] (1891), Blacksmith Scene (1893), Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894), Annie Oakley (1894), [Athlete with Wand] (1894), Band Drill (1894), The Barbershop (1894), Billy Edwards and the Unknown (1894), The Boxing Cats (1894), Bucking Broncho (1894), Buffalo Dance (1894), Caicedo (1894), Carmencita (1894), Cock Fight, no. 2 (1894), Corbett and Courtenay Before the Kinetograph (1894), Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), Fire Rescue Scene (1894), Glenroy Bros., no. 2 (1894), Hadj Cheriff (1894), Imperial Japanese Dance (1894), Luis Martinetti (1894), Robetta and Doretto (1894), Sandow (1894), Sioux Ghost Dance (1894), Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), [Dickson Experimental Sound Film] (1895), The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895), Princess Ali (1895), American Falls from Above, American Side (1896), Amy Muller (1896), Black Diamond Express (1896), The Burning Stable (1896), Edison Drawn by “World” Artist (1896), Fatima, Muscle Dancer (1896), Feeding the Doves (1896), Going to the Fire (1896), Interrupted Lovers (1896), The Lone Fisherman (1896), The May Irwin Kiss (1896), Mess Call (1896), A Morning Alarm (1896), The Morning Alarm (1896), The Morning Bath; or, Bathing the Baby (1896), Mounted Police Charge (1896), Shooting the Chutes (1896), Watermelon Eating Contest (1896), Fifth Avenue, New York (1897), The First Sleigh Ride (1897), Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory (1897), Return of Lifeboat (1897), The Burglar on the Roof (1898), Shooting Captured Insurgents (1898), Troop Ships for the Philippines (1898), U.S. Troops Landing at Daiquiri, Cuba (1898), Firemen Rescuing Men and Women (1899), Gold Rush Scenes in the Klondike (1899), A Wringing Good Joke (1899), Capture of Boer Battery by British (1900), The Kiss (1900), New Black Diamond Express (1900), Searching Ruins on Broadway for Dead Bodies, Galveston (1900), A Storm at Sea (1900), Another Job for the Undertaker (1901), [High Diving Scene] (1901), Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken (1901), Pan-American Exposition by Night (1901), Photographing a Country Couple (1901), Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901), What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1901), Burlesque Suicide, no. 2 (1902), The Burning of Durland’s Riding Academy (1902), Interrupted Bathers (1902), Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), Egyptian Fakir with Dancing Monkey (1903), Electrocuting an Elephant (1903), The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Life of an American Fireman (1903), Rector’s to Claremont (1903), A Scrap in Black and White (1903), Turning the Tables (1903), Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Slavery Days (1903), What Happened in the Tunnel (1903), The European Rest Cure (1904), The Ex-Convict (1904), How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald “Personal” Column (1904), Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride (1904), The Scarecrow Pump (1904), The “Strenuous” Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide (1904), Coney Island at Night (1905), The Kleptomaniac (1905), The Life of an American Policeman (1905), The Little Train Robbery (1905), The Miller’s Daughter (1905), Police Chasing Scorching Auto (1905), The Seven Ages (1905), The Train Wreckers (1905), The Watermelon Patch (1905), The “White Caps” (1905), The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog (1905), Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906), [Films of the San Francisco Earthquake] (1906), Getting Evidence, Showing the Trials and Tribulations of a Private Detective (1906), Kathleen Mavourneen (1906), The Terrible Kids (1906), Three American Beauties (1906), Cohen’s Fire Sale (1907), College Chums (1907), Laughing Gas (1907), A Little Girl Who Didn’t Believe in Santa Claus (1907), The Rivals (1907), The “Teddy” Bears (1907), The Trainer’s Daughter; or, A Race for Love (1907), Cupid’s Pranks (1908), Fireside Reminiscences (1908), Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (1908), A Suburbanite’s Ingenious Alarm (1908), Tale the Autumn Leaves Told (1908) {excerpt}, The House of Cards (1909), How Bumptious Papered the Parlor (1910), New York of Today (1910), The Passer-By (1912), The Public and Private Care of Infants (1912), Thirty Days at Hard Labor (1912), The Totville Eye (1912), All on Account of a Transfer (1913), The Ambassador’s Daughter (1913), At Bear Track Gulch (1913), A Serenade by Proxy (1913), An Unsullied Shield (1913), The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement (1914), One Touch of Nature (1914), Black Eyes (1915), The Lone Game (1915), The Wonders of Magnetism (1915) and The Unbeliever (1918).

Kino on Video
2005 DVD edition

Edison: The Invention of the Movies (1891-1918),
black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 14 hours total (approximate), not rated, including [Monkeyshines, no. 1] (1890), black & white, 27 seconds, not rated, [Monkeyshines, no. 2] (1890), black & white, 27 seconds, not rated, [Dickson Greeting] (1891), black & white, 6 seconds, not rated, [Men Boxing] (1891), black & white, 13 seconds, not rated, [Newark Athlete] (1891), black & white, 5 seconds, not rated, Blacksmith Scene (1893), black & white, 26 seconds, not rated, Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894), black & white, 19 seconds, not rated, Annie Oakley (1894), black & white, 18 seconds, not rated, [Athlete with Wand] (1894), black & white, 15 seconds, not rated, Band Drill (1894), black & white, 14 seconds, not rated, The Barbershop (1894), black & white, 21 seconds, not rated, Billy Edwards and the Unknown (1894), black & white, 15 seconds, not rated, The Boxing Cats (1894), black & white, 15 seconds, not rated, Bucking Broncho (1894), black & white, 18 seconds, not rated, Buffalo Dance (1894), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Caicedo (1894), black & white, 24 seconds, not rated, Carmencita (1894), black & white, 25 seconds, not rated, Cock Fight, no. 2 (1894), black & white, 17 seconds, not rated, Corbett and Courtenay Before the Kinetograph (1894), black & white, 38 seconds, not rated, Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), black & white, 3 seconds, not rated, Fire Rescue Scene (1894), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Glenroy Bros., no. 2 (1894), black & white, 34 seconds, not rated, Hadj Cheriff (1894), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Imperial Japanese Dance (1894), black & white, 22 seconds, not rated, Luis Martinetti (1894), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Robetta and Doretto (1894), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Sandow (1894), black & white, 22 seconds, not rated, Sioux Ghost Dance (1894), black & white, 18 seconds, not rated, Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), color-tinted black & white, 13 seconds, not rated, [Dickson Experimental Sound Film] (1895), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895), black & white, 12 seconds, not rated, Princess Ali (1895), black & white, 10 seconds, not rated, American Falls from Above, American Side (1896), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Amy Muller (1896), black & white, 14 seconds, not rated, Black Diamond Express (1896), black & white, 23 seconds, not rated, The Burning Stable (1896), black & white, 13 seconds, not rated, Edison Drawn by “World” Artist (1896), black & white, 1.5 minutes, not rated, Fatima, Muscle Dancer (1896), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Feeding the Doves (1896), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, Going to the Fire (1896), black & white, 20 seconds, not rated, Interrupted Lovers (1896), black & white, 16 seconds, not rated, The Lone Fisherman (1896), black & white 44 seconds, not rated, The May Irwin Kiss (1896), black & white, 20 seconds, not rated, Mess Call (1896), black & white, 35 seconds, not rated, A Morning Alarm (1896), black & white, 20 seconds, not rated, The Morning Alarm (1896), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, The Morning Bath; or, Bathing the Baby (1896), black & white, 22 seconds, not rated, Mounted Police Charge (1896), black & white, 19 seconds, not rated, Shooting the Chutes (1896), black & white, 23 seconds, not rated, Watermelon Eating Contest (1896), black & white, 17 seconds, not rated, Fifth Avenue, New York (1897), black & white, 30 seconds, not rated, The First Sleigh Ride (1897), black & white, 18 seconds, not rated, Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory (1897), black & white, 21 seconds, not rated, Return of Lifeboat (1897), black & white, 26 seconds, not rated, The Burglar on the Roof (1898), black & white, 24 seconds, not rated, Shooting Captured Insurgents (1898), black & white, 23 seconds, not rated, Troop Ships for the Philippines (1898), black & white, 33 seconds, not rated, U.S. Troops Landing at Daiquiri, Cuba (1898), black & white, 26 seconds, not rated, Firemen Rescuing Men and Women (1899), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Gold Rush Scenes in the Klondike (1899), black & white, 47 seconds, not rated, A Wringing Good Joke (1899), black & white, 22 seconds, not rated, Capture of Boer Battery by British (1900), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, The Kiss (1900), black & white, 39 seconds, not rated, New Black Diamond Express (1900), black & white, 26 seconds, not rated, Searching Ruins on Broadway for Dead Bodies, Galveston (1900), black & white, 46 seconds, not rated, A Storm at Sea (1900), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Another Job for the Undertaker (1901), black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, [High Diving Scene] (1901), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken (1901), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Pan-American Exposition by Night (1901), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Photographing a Country Couple (1901), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Trapeze Disrobing Act (1901), black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1901), black & white, 1.5 minutes, not rated, Burlesque Suicide, no. 2 (1902), black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, The Burning of Durland’s Riding Academy (1902), black & white, 3.5 minutes, not rated, Interrupted Bathers (1902), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, Egyptian Fakir with Dancing Monkey (1903), black & white, 1.5 minutes, not rated, Electrocuting an Elephant (1903), black & white, 1.5 minutes, not rated, The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, The Great Train Robbery (1903), black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, The Life of an American Fireman (1903), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, Rector’s to Claremont (1903), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, A Scrap in Black and White (1903), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Turning the Tables (1903), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Slavery Days (1903), black & white, 19 minutes, not rated, What Happened in the Tunnel (1903), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, The European Rest Cure (1904), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Ex-Convict (1904), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald “Personal” Column (1904), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride (1904), black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, The Scarecrow Pump (1904), black & white, 1 minute, not rated, The “Strenuous” Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide (1904), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated, Coney Island at Night (1905), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, The Kleptomaniac (1905), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, The Life of an American Policeman (1905), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Little Train Robbery (1905), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, The Miller’s Daughter (1905), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, Police Chasing Scorching Auto (1905), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, The Seven Ages (1905), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated, The Train Wreckers (1905), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, The Watermelon Patch (1905), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, The “White Caps” (1905), black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog (1905), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated, Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906), black & white, 6 minutes, not rated, [Films of the San Francisco Earthquake] (1906), black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, Getting Evidence, Showing the Trials and Tribulations of a Private Detective (1906), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Kathleen Mavourneen (1906), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, The Terrible Kids (1906), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, Three American Beauties (1906), color-tinted black & white, 1 minute, not rated, Cohen’s Fire Sale (1907), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, College Chums (1907), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Laughing Gas (1907), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, A Little Girl Who Didn’t Believe in Santa Claus (1907), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Rivals (1907), black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, The “Teddy” Bears (1907), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Trainer’s Daughter; or, A Race for Love (1907), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Cupid’s Pranks (1908), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, Fireside Reminiscences (1908), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated, Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (1908), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, A Suburbanite’s Ingenious Alarm (1908), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, Tale the Autumn Leaves Told (1908) {excerpt}, black & white, 1.5 minutes, not rated, The House of Cards (1909), black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, How Bumptious Papered the Parlor (1910), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, New York of Today (1910), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, The Passer-By (1912), black & white, 17 minutes, not rated, The Public and Private Care of Infants (1912), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Thirty Days at Hard Labor (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, The Totville Eye (1912), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, All on Account of a Transfer (1913), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, The Ambassador’s Daughter (1913), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, At Bear Track Gulch (1913), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, A Serenade by Proxy (1913), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, An Unsullied Shield (1913), black & white, 17 minutes, not rated, The Adventure of the Hasty Elopement (1914), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, One Touch of Nature (1914), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, Black Eyes (1915), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, The Lone Game (1915), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, The Wonders of Magnetism (1915), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated, and The Unbeliever (1918), black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K383, UPC 7-38329-03832-8.
Four single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 4.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; four plastic DVD trays on cardboard wraparound in cardboard slipcase; $99.95.
Release date: 22 February 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Utilizing 35mm materials held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress, Kino International and MoMA have assembled this unprecedented collection of 140 films produced by the Edison company. From early experimental films from 1891 through a full feature film produced in 1918, the collection runs the gamut of cinematic primitives shot in the Black Maria studio at Edison’s laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, through actualities, to short dramas and comedies.

The films are presented in chronological order and are interspersed with introductions and commentaries by noted Edison film historian Charles Musser, Steven Higgins and Eileen Bowser of MoMA, Patrick Loughney of the Library of Congress and the George Eastman Museum, Richard Koszarski of Rutgers University, Paul Israel of the Edison papers collection, among others. The films are accompanied by music performed by Philip Carli, Jon C. Mirsalis, Ben Model, Donald Sosin and Clark Wilson.

Several of the films have previously been available to collectors in VHS home video collections originating from blurry 16mm preservation prints struck from the LoC’s paper print collection in the 1950s, and more recently from 35mm materials offered in some collections released on DVD. Now, the staples of those collections — Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903), The European Rest Cure (1904), The Kleptomaniac (1905) — are available together with a large number of Edison films never-before released on home video. The collection wraps up with a complete presentation of the war feature The Unbeliever (1918), the final film produced by the Edison company.