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Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
(1902) United States of America
B&W : [?] 120 or 125? feet
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Cast: Charles ‘Daddy’ Manley [Uncle Josh]
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Cinematography by Edwin S. Porter. / © 27 January 1902 by Thomas A. Edison. Released January 1902. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film incorporates footage from Parisian Dance (1897), Black Diamond Express (1896) and Country Couple (presumed to have been made for this film). The production utilizes double exposure and matte shots. The projection effect was done by means of a custom Edison optical printer.
Comedy.
Synopsis: Uncle Josh is overexcited by his first motion picture experience and eventually tears down the picture screen attempting to help the movie heroine. // [From Edison promotional materials] A side-splitter. Uncle Josh occupies a box at a vaudeville theatre, where a moving picture show is going on. First a dancer appears upon the screen. Uncle Josh jumps to the stage and endeavors to make love to her, but she flits away, and immediately there appears upon the screen the picture of an express train running at sixty miles an hour. Uncle Josh becomes panic-stricken, and fearing to be struck by the train, makes a dash for his box. He is no sooner seated than a country couple appear upon the screen, at a well. Before they pump the pail full of water they indulge in a love-making scene. Uncle Josh thinks he recognizes his own daughter, jumps upon the stage, removes his coat and prepares to chastise the lover, and grabbing the moving picture screen he hauls it down, and to his great surprise finds a kinetoscope operator in the rear. The operator is made furious by Uncle Josh interrupting his show, and grappling with him they roll over and over upon the stage in an exciting encounter.
Survival status: Print exists in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Dances - Fights - Film-within-film - Motion picture projection - Movie theaters - Railroads: Railroad tracks - Title slides - Transportation: Trains, Train tracks
Listing updated: 20 January 2010.
References: Film viewing : Bohn-Light p. 17; Fell-History p. 24, 48; Leyda-Before pp. 65, 66; Musser-Emerge p. 19; Niver-First pp. 22-23, 24; Sklar-Movie p. 26 : ClasIm-301 p. 30 : Website-AFI.
Home video: DVD.
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