The Gordon Sisters Boxing

1901 Documentary 1 minute

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About The Gordon Sisters Boxing

Bessie Gordon, dressed in black, and Minnie Gordon, dressed in white, walk in from either side of a painted park and spar one round. The gloves and the hits look real. One wears a long-sleeved white dress to mid-calf; the other, a shorter dark sleeveless dress. Both have dark stockings and laced boots. The Edison catalog sold the picture complete or cut into shorter lengths.

Cast & crew

More about The Gordon Sisters Boxing

Thomas A. Edison copyrighted it on May 6, 1901, number H4083. The AFI catalog gives a release date of April 27, 1901, and a length of 100 feet, also offered at 50 feet. Director credits do not agree: one names Edison, another Edwin S. Porter, and the AFI entry lists none.

Themes

  • One sparring round
  • Sisters in a painted garden
  • A prizefight sold by the foot
  • boxing
  • Bessie Gordon
  • Minnie Gordon
  • Edison
  • painted backdrop

Background

The Edison catalog billed them as champion lady boxers and told exhibitors the blows fell thick and fast against a park with a marble entrance.

Preservation

A paper print is in the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection.

Notes

  • The New York Clipper advertised Bessie and Minnie Gordon's boxing and bag-punching act. A photo caption of November 15, 1902, says they claimed to be the originators of lady boxing acts and presented only scientific sparring.
  • AFI points to an earlier Edison subject, Comedy Set-To (1898), in which Belle Gordon boxes Billy Curtis.
  • The Library of Congress times a paper-print transfer at 1 minute 36 seconds at 19 frames per second.

Scenes

  • The two women meet in front of the garden drop and trade punches until the round is over.

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (Gordon Sisters Boxing 1901.ogv)