| |
 |
| |
Frame enlargement: Silent Era image collection.
|
Casey at the Bat;
or, The Fate of a “Rotten” Umpire
(1899) United States of America
B&W : 50 feet
Directed by James H. White
Cast: (unknown)
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / From the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. / © 22 April 1899 by Thomas A. Edison. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / This is thought to be the earliest fiction motion picture with a baseball theme. The production was shot in early April 1899, likely in New Jersey near the Edison studio. Musser control number 677.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [The Phonoscope, July 1899, page 14] The umpire makes a decision that Casey don’t like, and an argument follows, during which Casey deftly trips him up, and continues the argument on the ground. The other players run from the bench and join in the rumpus. The fielders come running in and the pile on the home plate looks like a foot ball scrimmage. A solemn warning to all rotten umpires.
Survival status: Print exists in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Athletes: Baseball players - Fights - Sports: Baseball: Umpires
Listing updated: 29 March 2010.
References: Film viewing : Edelman-Baseball p. 51; Musser-Edison p. 496 : Website-IMDb.
Home video: DVD.
|
