Search Films, Videos

  • Film, Video
    Cake walk
    Title in American Mutoscope & Biograph picture catalogue, Nov. 1902 [MI], p. 12: Coon cake walk | Title in Biograph photo catalog, v. 1 [MI]: Darkey cake walk | Cakewalk
    Five African Americans--three men and two women--perform a cakewalk, a dance featuring fancy strutting that was named after the prize awarded in the original contests. The dancers wear rather formal attire, with the men in dark suits and black tie and the women in full-length, high-collared dark dresses; one woman carries a small American flag. As they step in place against a light background,...
    • Contributor: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1897
  • Film, Video
    Sandow
    Variant title from Edison motion pictures 1890-1900: Sandow | Copyright title: Souvenir strip of the Edison Kinetoscope, Sandow, the modern Hercules | Sandow, the modern Hercules
    Strong-man Eugen Sandow stands against a black background with his arms up and hands behind his head. He strikes a variety of poses that demonstrate his upper body muscular development.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Heise, William - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) - Sandow, Eugen
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Sandow
    Variant title from Biograph production log: Sandow (no breathing)
    Strong-man Eugene (Eugen) Sandow poses in a long shot on a bare stage against a black background, wearing only tight trunks and laced sandals. He begins with his arms folded against his chest, looking off screen left, then strikes a variety of poses that accentuate his muscular development. These positions include flexing his right arm with the fist to his head and face to...
    • Contributor: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Sandow, Eugen - American Mutoscope Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1896
  • Film, Video
    Luis Martinetti
    Variant title from Edison films 1890-1900: Louis Martinetti | Erroneous title from Edison films 1890-1900: Louis Martinelli | Title in Maguire & Baucus catalogue: Louis Martinetti, contortionist
    "Gymnast and contortionist, performing on flying rings"--Raff & Gammon price list.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Martinetti, Luis - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    McKinley and party
    Title in American Mutoscope & Biograph picture catalogue [MI]: President McKinley's inspection of Camp Wikoff
    "This picture has been very popular wherever it has been shown on the Biograph. To begin with, the film is unusually fine photographically, and the picture is taken from a point of view which shows the immense distances of Camp Wikoff with its multitude of tents in the background. The President, with Vice-President Hobart and Secretary of War Russell A. Alger, appear in an...
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope Company
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Turkish dance, Ella Lola A young, dark-haired woman performs a period "Oriental" dance (commonly known as a belly dance) with some Turkish styling. She performs distinctive dance movements that include shoulder shimmies with pelvic movements and several foot patterns, side traveling movements with pelvic circles, a slow pelvic circle and a front pelvic lock, and paddle turns with various arm gestures. Her dance costume consists of a two-layered...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Lola, Ella - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Fun in camp "Showing a group of soldiers and Red Cross nurses being amused by a number of small children who are riding upon the backs of trick bears. A remarkably fine picture, with U.S. Infantry camp in the background. 30 feet"--Edison films catalog, no. 105.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1899
  • Film, Video
    Ella Lola, a la Trilby
    Title in Copyright catalog: Ella Lola, a la Trilby [dance]
    A young, dark-haired woman performs a dance inspired by George du Maurier's character Trilby, in an early modern dance style reminiscent of Isadora Duncan. She dances barefoot without stockings and is dressed in a long, flowing gown bound across the bosom in Grecian style, with inside fringe and a draped cape hooked to her wrist. She also wears what appears to be a garland...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Lola, Ella - Heise, William - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Princess Ali
    Title in Maguire & Baucus catalogue: Egyptian dance
    Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's Circus, is filmed performing an Egyptian dance. As she dances, some musicians perform in the background to provide accompaniment.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1895
  • Film, Video
    Arabian gun twirler A bearded man performs a rifle twirling act on a stage with a painted backdrop of a city street corner. He wears a white turban and a dark two-piece costume of tunic and baggy pants that narrow at the knees; perhaps the costume of an Arab infantryman. The tricks he performs include throwing the spinning rifle in the air and catching it; twirling the...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Cheriff, Hadji - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1899
  • Film, Video
    Robetta and Doretto, [no. 2]
    Title in Maguire & Baucus catalogue: Chinese laundry
    "The pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman"--Maguire & Baucus catalogue.
    • Contributor: Heise, William - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Robetta - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) - Doretto, Phil
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Band drill "From "Milk White Flag." Marching band with leader at the head"--Maguire & Baucus catalogue.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Hoyt, Charles H. (Charles Hale) - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Cuban volunteers embarking Men carrying rifles and bedrolls boarding ship via gangway.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Paley, William Daly
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    U.S. troops landing at Daiquirí, Cuba
    United States troops landing at Daiquirí, Cuba | Title in Edison films catalog, no. 105: U.S. troops landing at Baiquiri, Cuba
    "These are the first U.S. troops to land on Cuban soil, June 22, 1898. The picture shows a long perspective view of the pier at Baiquiri [sic], the point chosen so strategically for the landing of General Shafter's army. At the end of the wharf are the coal dumps and ore elevators used by the mining company operating the famous iron mines at Juragua,...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Paley, William Daly - Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    [Dickson greeting]
    Variant LC title: Early Edison camera tests
    Experimental film made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Edison Collection (Library of Congress) - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1891
  • Film, Video
    Imperial Japanese dance
    Title in Maguire & Gammon catalogue: Japanese dance
    "A charming representation of The Mikado dance by three beautiful Japanese ladies in full costume. Very effective when colored. 45 feet"--Edison films catalog.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Sarashe Sisters - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Afi/Holt (H.L.) Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Admiral Cigarette
    We all smoke
    In front of a large backdrop with the words "Admiral Cigarette" are four people in costume: Uncle Sam, a clergyman, an Indian, and a businessman. To their left is a very large Admiral Cigarette box, that breaks apart to reveals a girl, attired in a striking costume, smoking a cigarette. She goes to the men and hands each a cigarette. As she moves back...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1897
  • Film, Video
    Sioux ghost dance
    Title from Edison films catalog: Ghost dance
    "One of the most peculiar customs of the Sioux Tribe is here shown, the dancers being genuine Sioux Indians, in full war paint and war costumes. 40 feet"--Edison films catalog.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Theodore Roosevelt
    Copyright title: Theodore Roosevelt leaving the White House | Alternate title: Hon. Theo. Roosevelt, Ass't Sec'y, U.S. Navy leaving White House | Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary, United States Navy leaving White House | Roosevelt Memorial Association inventory title: TR as Assistant Secretary of the Navy leaving the White House, 1897 | Theodore Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy leaving the White House, 1897
    TR, in formal dress with hat, walks down the steps of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. and turns and walks toward the stationary camera. The south portico of the White House is visible through trees in background.
    • Contributor: Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope and Biograph Company - Roosevelt, Theodore - Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection (Library of Congress) - American Mutoscope Company
    • Date: 1898
  • Film, Video
    Love and war "An illustrated song telling the story of a hero who leaves for the war as a private, is promoted to the rank of captain for bravery in service, meets the girl of his choice, who is a Red Cross nurse on the field, and finally returns home triumphantly as an officer to the father and mother to whom he bade good bye as a...
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1899
  • Film, Video
    Charity ball A man in formal dinner clothes and a woman in a white ruffled dress with a flower corsage and white shoes execute various dance steps designed as exhibition dancing. The set is bare, without backdrops or props. The couple's feet are not evident at times in the frame, and the dance appears to have been shot in relatively slow motion.
    • Contributor: Kent, Dorothy - Heise, William - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress) - Kelley, James T. - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1897
  • Film, Video
    Morning colors on U.S. cruiser "Raleigh" "Shows a group of sailors and an officer at the stern. The flag runs out in a ball to the end of the staff, and, at the signal, is broken. Proudly the Stars and Stripes wave in the morning breeze, while the officer salutes. A very pretty picture of man-o-war life"--The Phonoscope, June 1899, p. 17.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - White, James H. (James Henry)
    • Date: 1899
  • Film, Video
    Buffalo dance Three Sioux Indians in full regalia perform a "buffalo dance", while two others use drums to supply a rhythm. The three dancers move around in a circle as they perform the various actions that are part of the dance. All three wear feathers in their headbands and two wear decorative tails.
    • Contributor: Hair Coat - Strong Talker - Parts His Hair - Last Horse - Pine - Heise, William - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress)
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Bucking broncho
    Variant title from Maguire & Baucus catalogue, April 1897: Bucking bronco | Variant title from Edison motion pictures 1890-1900: Bucking bronchos
    "A fine exhibition of horsemanship by Lee Martin, a genuine cowboy. This particular broncho is an unusually wicked one. 40 feet"--Edison films catalog, no. 105.
    • Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie) - Heise, William
    • Date: 1894
  • Film, Video
    Bowery waltz "Shows James T. Kelly and Dorothy Kent, of Waite's Comedy Company, in the famous Bowery dance. The dancers are dressed in costumes characteristic to the surroundings, and the dance as shown is an exact reproduction. The subject shows many humorous situations, is clear, sharp, and the figures show full life size. Suitable for coloring"--F.Z. Maguire catalogue.
    • Contributor: Kelley, James T. - Kent, Dorothy - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Heise, William
    • Date: 1897