William K.L. Dickson Movies

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

Experimental film made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope and believed to be the first film shot in the United States. It shows...

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the second motion...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the...

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.

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...

William K.L. Dickson and William Heise shake hands in this early experimental film.

Eugen Sandow, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, appears in the Edison Company's film studio.

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Based on Shakespeare's play, Act V, Scene vii: King John is in torment, and his supporters fear that his end is near. As he writhes in agony, he is...

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...

The pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman.

In a long, diaphanous skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended, Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore performs. Her dance emphasizes the movement of...

Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what...

King of the slack wire. His daring feats of balancing as he performs his thrilling feats in midair show that he is perfectly at home.

Annie Oakley was probably the most famous marksman/woman in the world when this short clip was produced in Edison's Black Maria studio in West...

Queen Vilhelminas coronation.

A series of short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson which chronicle the adventures of Rip Van Winkle.