The Kiss
“An exhibit is not complete without it.”
About The Kiss
A man and a woman, filmed from a three-quarter angle, embrace and kiss. The Library of Congress says the two people are not identified. This is not the 1896 film of May Irwin and John C. Rice.
Cast & crew
More about The Kiss
Thomas A. Edison copyrighted it on 9 March 1900, number D5532. AFI dates the shooting to February or early March 1900 at West Orange and the release to March 1900. The Edison catalogue lists 60 feet and calls it an old subject done over. The 1896 kiss, from the musical The Widow Jones, had already been a hit. The catalogue line is the sales text, not a theater poster.
Themes
Making
Edison remade the kiss as a 60-foot strip because exhibitors already knew the 1896 version would stop a show.
Preservation
The Library of Congress catalogs the film. The Edison record is 60 feet.
Notes
- The Edison catalogue says: 'Nothing new, but an old thing done over again and done well,' and 'an exhibit is not complete without it.'
- AFI and the Library of Congress do not name the couple. A Fred Ott credit appears on some lists and is not in the AFI cast.
- The New York Clipper mentioned it on 24 March 1900.
- Length on the copyright record is 60 feet.
- Also called The New Kiss.
Scenes
- The couple embrace and kiss in a single three-quarter view.
Influenced by
- The Kiss (1896)
