Boxing
"Edison's camera tests the prize ring."
Keys: Space play/pause · ←/→ 10s · F fullscreen · M mute · </> speed
About this film
William Kennedy Dickson and William Heise recorded an experimental boxing exhibition on Edison's early vertical-feed Kinetograph around 1892, capturing two fighters in a brief sparring round. Selected frames appeared in The Phonogram magazine; the work was not released theatrically and may relate to earlier Edison camera tests catalogued as Men Boxing.
More about this film
About the production
Themes
Themes & topics
Historical background
The Edison Manufacturing Company produced the test during the laboratory period when Dickson was refining motion-picture capture at West Orange, New Jersey, before public Kinetoscope exhibitions.
Why this film matters
Boxing survives as a document of Edison's pre-commercial experiments and of early interest in filming athletic motion; a copy is hosted on Wikimedia Commons.
Making of
Open sources chiefly list credits with William Kennedy Dickson named as director.
What critics said
Film historians cite the fragment in surveys of Edison's 1891–1892 camera trials rather than as an entertainment release.
Did you know?
- Directed by W.K.L. Dickson and William Heise.
- Shot on early vertical-feed Kinetograph format.
- May be related to the 1891 Men Boxing camera test.
What audiences thought
Audience documentation for Boxing is limited; availability today depends on archive and streaming copies.
Film restoration
Preservation status should be confirmed against archive holdings.
Where to watch
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boxing%201892%20by%20William%20Dickson.webm