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Edwin Stanton Porter was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Of over 250 films created by Porter, his most important include What Happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City (1901), Jack and the Beanstalk (1902), Life of an American Fireman (1903), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The European Rest Cure (1904), The Kleptomaniac (1905), Life of a Cowboy (1906), Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1913).
Paper prints of films were an early mechanism to establish the copyright of motion pictures by depositing them with the Library of Congress. Thomas Alva Edison’s company was first to register each frame of motion-picture film onto a positive paper print, in 1893. The Library of Congress processed and cataloged each of the films as one photograph, accepting thousands of paper prints of films over a twenty-year period.
Maniac Chase is a 1904 American short silent comedy film directed by Edwin S. Porter and produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company. The film is a remake of The Escaped Lunatic, a film directed by Wallace McCutcheon Sr. released at the beginning of 1904. This was one of two Biograph Company hits remade by Edison's company in fall 1904, the other being Personal, which was copied as How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald Personal Columns.
Wallace McCutcheon Sr. was a pioneer cinematographer and director in the early American motion picture industry, working with the American Mutoscope & Biograph, Edison and American Star Film companies. McCutcheon's wealth of credits are often mixed up with the small handful of films directed by his son, Wallace McCutcheon Jr. (1884–1928).
Jack and the Beanstalk is a 1902 American silent trick film directed by George S. Fleming and Edwin S. Porter. With ten sequential shots, Jack and the Beanstalk was twice as long as any previous studio film. According to Porter, "It took in the neighborhood of six weeks in the spring of 1902 to successfully make this photograph."
Love by the Light of the Moon is a 1901 film by Edwin S. Porter, produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company. It mixes animation and live action and predates the man in the Moon theme of the 1902 French science fiction film A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès. The animation is provided by projected slides showing the Moon's different faces.
Faust and Marguerite is a 1900 American silent trick film produced and distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. It was directed by Edwin S. Porter and based on the Michel Carré play Faust et Marguerite and the 1859 opera Faust adapted from the play by Charles Gounod.
Parsifal is a 1904 American silent film produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and directed by Edwin S. Porter. It is based on the 1882 opera Parsifal by Richard Wagner, and stars Adelaide Fitz-Allen as Kundry and Robert Whittier as Parsifal.
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend is a 1906 silent trick film directed by Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company. It is a seven-minute live-action film adaptation of the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. The film was marketed as using several special effects in which "some of the photographic 'stunts' have never been seen or attempted before."
Daniel Boone; or, Pioneer Days in America is a 1907 American silent film directed by Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It starred Florence Lawrence, often called "the first movie star."
The Bold Bank Robbery is a 1904 short crime film produced and distributed by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. The silent film depicts a group of burglars who plan and execute a successful bank heist. Company employee Jack Frawley was the film's director, also coming up with the story and serving as cinematographer; the cast's identities are unknown. The silent film was the first Lubin Manufacturing Company release to feature an original narrative.
Kansas Saloon Smashers is a 1901 comedy short film produced and distributed by Edison Studios. Directed by Edwin S. Porter, it is a satire of American activist Carrie Nation. The film portrays Nation and her followers entering and destroying a saloon. After the bartender retaliates by spraying Nation with water, policemen order them out; the identities of the actors are not known. Inspiration for the film was provided by an editorial cartoon which appeared in the New York Evening Journal.
The Cavalier's Dream is an 1898 American silent horror trick film. While the film is sometimes credited to director Edwin S. Porter, this is an error.
The 'Teddy' Bears is an American silent film directed by Edwin S. Porter and Wallace McCutcheon, and produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company starting as the fairy tale Goldilocks and ending as a political satire of United States President Theodore Roosevelt.
How Jones Lost His Roll is a 1905 silent short comedy film directed by Edwin S. Porter. The movie was popular for its clever use of animated title cards — the first example of stop-motion animation in American film.
Laura Comstock's Bag-Punching Dog is a 1901 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter. The film depicts a vaudeville act featuring Laura Comstock and her trained dog, a pit bull named Mannie. Comstock's act was currently appearing at Keith's Union Square Theatre.
The Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken is a 1901 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter in collaboration with George S. Fleming. The comic film depicts an unattractive old woman arriving at a photo studio to have her picture taken, and destroying all of the equipment through the power of her ugliness.
The Gay Shoe Clerk is a 1903 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter. The film depicts a risqué comic encounter between a clerk and his female customer while she is trying on shoes.
How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald Personal Columns is a 1904 silent comic film directed by Edwin S. Porter for the Edison Manufacturing Company. The film is a remake of the hit film Personal, produced by the Biograph Company earlier in the year. The film is a spoof of the "fashionable marriages" known to take place between cash-strapped European nobility and American heiresses.
Fun in a Bakery Shop is a 1902 American short film by Edwin S. Porter. Porter used stop-motion animation to depict clay loaves being sculpted into faces. The film was released on April 3, 1902, by the Edison Manufacturing Company. The film's plot was only the pretext of showcasing the skills of a fast sculptor.
References
- ↑ Niver, Kemp R. (1985). Early Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. p. 322. ISBN 0-8444-0463-2 . Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ Niver, Kemp R. (1968). The First Twenty Years: A Segment of Film History. Locare Research Group. p. 17. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ↑ Musser, Charles (1991). Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company. University of California Press. pp. 163–164. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ↑ American Memory Entry http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/edmp.1887
