Monkeyshines, No. 1
About Monkeyshines, No. 1
A blurry figure in white stands in one place and makes large gestures. William K. L. Dickson and William Heise shot the test at the Edison laboratory for the cylinder Kinetoscope. It was not released to the public.
Cast & crew
More about Monkeyshines, No. 1
Dickson and Heise made the test. One account dates it to June 1889 and names Fred Ott. Another dates it to 21–27 November 1890 and names Giuseppe Sacco Albanese. Both men worked in the lab, and the records conflict. The year filed for this title is 1889. Monkeyshines, No. 2 and No. 3 followed. The picture is often called the earliest film shot in the United States, with that date still argued.
Themes
Making
The test asked one question: would a body moving in front of the cylinder camera leave a readable image.
Look
Dickson and Heise photographed a single standing figure. The image is blurred.
Technique
It records onto the cylinder format Edison was testing before the 35mm strip.
Preservation
The test survives and has been copied with Monkeyshines, No. 2. The recorded length is 56 seconds.
Notes
- The camera was the cylinder Kinetoscope, not the later roll-film machine.
- The figure is too soft to identify with certainty.
- No. 1 was a laboratory test. It had no theatrical run.
- An Internet Archive item pairs it with No. 2.
- John Ott is named on some public-domain copies. The competing name is Giuseppe Sacco Albanese.
Scenes
- A white figure waves both arms and stays in one spot.
