Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph
About Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph
James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney box six one-minute rounds in the Black Maria on September 7, 1894. Each round was filmed as its own Kinetoscope subject. Corbett, the champion, is the favorite; Courtney is the underdog.
Cast & crew
More about Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph
William K. L. Dickson produced the bout and William Heise was the cameraman. Edison Manufacturing made it and also distributed it, along with F. M. Prescott. It was the second boxing match filmed, after The Leonard-Cushing Fight, which Dickson shot on June 14, 1894. The six rounds were issued separately.
Background
Filmed on September 7, 1894, when prizefight pictures were a main product of the Edison peep-show business.
In film history
The second boxing match put on film, six weeks after Leonard versus Cushing.
Making
The bout was arranged for the camera inside the Black Maria, with each round held to about a minute so it would fit a Kinetoscope loop.
Look
William Heise photographed the six rounds against the Black Maria interior.
Preservation
One partial round survives. The Library of Congress holds a copy. The other five rounds are not intact.
Notes
- The rounds were sold as separate films: 1st Round through 6th Round.
- Only one partial round of the six is known to survive intact.
- A copy is at the Library of Congress and was posted on the American Memory site.
- In 1997 the surviving footage was used in Sports on the Silver Screen, narrated by Liev Schreiber.
- It is on disc one of the DVD Edison: The Invention of the Movies.
Scenes
- Corbett and Courtney box a one-minute round while the Kinetograph runs.
Influenced by
- The Leonard-Cushing Fight (1894)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph (1894).webm)
- Edison: The Invention of the Movies (DVD)
