Luis Martinetti, a contortionist suspended from acrobatic flying rings, contorts himself for about thirty seconds. This is one of the first films made for Edison's kinetoscopes.
“A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the action the pillows become torn, and the feathers fly over their heads and about the room in great numbers, producing with the white dresses and the black...
The camera shows a water ride at Bergen Beach at Coney Island. A raised track filled with water forms a chute, and a small boat full of park visitors slides down the chute. Alongside, empty boats are hauled back up to the top of the ride.
Experimental film made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film. Film reoriented by Gordon Hendricks.
One of the pictures to be seen in the machine, for example, was that of a blacksmith shop in which two men were working, one shoeing a horse, the other heating iron at the forge. One would be seen to drive the nail into the shoe of the horse's hoof, to change his position and every movement needed...
“This subject taken just after the recent first fall of snow, shows two enthusiastic horsemen indulging in a "brush" with their respective horses and cutters.” (Maguire & Baucus)
"This scene shows almost the entire Fire Department led by the Chief, responding to an alarm. The horses, said to be the finest of their kind in the country, present a thrilling spectacle as they dash rapidly by, flecked with foam, and panting from the exertion of their long gallop"--Maguire &...
A woman in a white gown performs a skirt dance, using her arms to produce circles and other patterns within the folds of her costume. Her legs and feet appear to be bare. (Library of Congress)
The dancer Fatima, well-known for her dancing shows at the World's Exhibition in 1893, performs for the camera. She opens her act by twirling around a few times, and then she does the 'muscle dance' for which she had attracted considerable notoriety.
Former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards, now a trainer and writer of the sport, takes on a challenger named Warwick in an exhibition match. The match is scheduled for five rounds of 20 seconds each. A large crowd has gathered behind the ring to watch the fight.
William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the first film produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company to be shown to public audiences and the press.
Several men in a basement barbershop become excited by women walking past the window. The ankles and knees of the passersby are visible to the men below, causing pandemonium among the barbershop customers. Possibly released in 1901.
“A file of Spanish soldiers line up the Cubans against a blank wall and fire a volley. The flash of rifles and drifting smoke make a very striking picture.” (Edison film catalog)
