Watermelon Contest
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About Watermelon Contest
Two men race to see who can finish a large slice of watermelon first. The camera stays on them for the length of the gag.
Cast & crew
More about Watermelon Contest
Raff & Gammon distributed the Edison short. Silent Era dates a release of January 1, 1896, leaves the director unnamed, and marks William Heise as a possible cameraman. Other catalogs credit James H. White. Edison later made a 1900 film of the same title, with four men. The AFI Catalog says that reel was meant to replace a worn two-man picture.
Themes
Making
The 1896 listing and the 1900 remake are easy to mix up because Edison reused the title after the earlier negative wore out.
Music
Silent. No composer is credited.
Preservation
Silent Era says a print of the 1896 film exists and is in the public domain in the United States.
Notes
- Silent Era also lists the title Watermelon Eating Contest.
- It cites Charles Musser’s The Emergence of Cinema, pages 130–131, and says a print survives in the public domain in the United States.
- The June 1900 film, copyright D13285 on June 28, 1900, shows four men. The Library of Congress description of that reel has the winner snatch another slice and start a scuffle. That is a different picture.
- The Edison catalog sold the 1900 version plain or colored, whole or in lengths of 50, 100, 140, or 145 feet.
- AFI places the 1900 film in a series it calls African American stereotypes, 1896–1910.
Scenes
- The two men start on the slices together.
