Monkeyshines, No. 3

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion picture camera.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns.

An abridged version of the tale of Rip Van Winkle, a lazy American man, who wanders off one day with his dog Wolf into the Kaatskill mountains where he runs into an odd group of small men drinking and playing. He drinks some of their mysterious brew and passes out. When he wakes up under a tree he is astonished to find that 20 years have passed and things are a lot different.

In the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters swing roundhouse blows at each other. Mike Leonard, in white trunks, is the aggressor; in black, Jack Cushing stands near the edge of the ring, warily pawing the air as Leonard comes at him. A couple of punches land, but the fighters maintain their upright postures.

Hadji Cheriff, a performer known for a variety of unusual abilities, demonstrates part of his act in the Thomas Edison studio. He has a large knife in his hand at the opening of the act. He then hurls the knife away and begins a rapid series of dance-like motions, executing numerous cartwheels and whirling movements.

Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what is believed to be the Native Americans first appearance before a motion picture camera 'Buffalo Dance' features genuine members of the Sioux Tribe dressed in full war paint and costume! The dancers are believed to be veteran members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Filmed again at the Black Maria studios by both Dickson and Heise the 'Buffalo Dance' warriors were named as Hair Coat, Parts His Hair and Last Horse. Its quite strange seeing these movies at first they all stand around waiting to begin and as they start some of the dancers look at the camera in an almost sad way at having lost their way of life.

Four men at work in a forge. The uses hammers and and anvil to beat metal.

Two boxers miss their punches - until they don't.

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion picture camera.

A Victorian couple dancing.

Hadji Cheriff, a performer known for a variety of unusual abilities, demonstrates part of his act in the Thomas Edison studio. He has a large knife in his hand at the opening of the act. He then hurls the knife away and begins a rapid series of dance-like motions, executing numerous cartwheels and whirling movements.

Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's circus, performs an Egyptian dance in the Edison Company's studio. As she dances, some musicians perform in the background to provide accompaniment.

No Overview

The children come sliding down the hill on their sleds, and run the gauntlet of volleys of snowballs thrown by boys on both sides of the street.

The famous show makes a parade.

The victim is lying on a trolley car fender. Ambulance drives up and the injured man is removed in a stretcher.

The participants are natives of Ceylon. Their dance is very interesting being so different from Western ideas of harmonies of motion.

A Five-Volume Boxed Set. The Great Train Robbery And Other Primary Works. The genesis of the motion picture medium is vividly recreated in this unprecedented collection of the cinema's formative works. More than crucial historical artifacts, these films reveal the foundation from which the styles and stories of the contemporary cinema would later arise. The European Pioneers. While some may consider the cinema a distinctly American invention, the most influential figures during its infancy were two brothers in France: Auguste and Louis Lumiere. In the beginning, they dominated world film production and distribution. Through the magic of cinema, such ordinary sights as the demolition of a wall, the arrival of a train, a family enjoying breakfast or workers exiting a factory were transformed into mystifying spectacles of light and motion, having their premiere on December 28, 1895.