William Heise

William K.L. Dickson and William Heise shake hands in this early experimental film.

"Musicians are seated, playing, while the graceful Dolorita dances. It is the Danse-du-Ventre, the famous Oriental muscle dance."

Experimental film made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope and believed to be the first film shot in the United States. It shows...

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the second motion...

Early Edison short showing two men fencing.

William K.L. Dickson and William Heise shake hands in this early experimental film.

One of the pictures to be seen in the machine, for example, was that of a blacksmith shop in which two men were working, one shoeing a horse, the...

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the second motion...

Experimental film made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope and believed to be the first film shot in the United States. It shows...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

King of the slack wire. His daring feats of balancing as he performs his thrilling feats in midair show that he is perfectly at home.

“Interior of Barber Shop. Man comes in, takes off his coat; sits down, smokes; is handed a paper by attendant, who points out a joke; both...

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United...

William K.L. Dickson and William Heise shake hands in this early experimental film.

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.

An athlete demonstrating various poses.

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion...

Early Edison short showing two men fencing.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest...

Eugen Sandow, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, appears in the Edison Company's film studio.

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

Two gamecocks are fighting inside a wire cage, while two spectators look on in the background. The two men agree to make a bet on the outcome. One of...

Ten horse-drawn pieces of equipment of the Buffalo Fire Department pass by a stationary camera that looks down a broad avenue as they come toward...

From Edison films catalog: A long line of horses, mules and ponies are led, driven and ridden into the yards, where they are sold and distributed.

The 'Laughing Waters' of Longfellow's 'Hiawatha.' A beautiful view of this picturesque and celebrated waterfall.

The busiest corner in Chicago. Cable cars and street traffic of all descriptions. Hundreds of shoppers. Fine perspective view looking north toward...

Great horse racing on the famous Hartford track, showing start and finish of a 2.04 3/4 heat run by the fastest harness horse in the world, John R....

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.

The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete", which depicts a boxer with a...

“Interior of Barber Shop. Man comes in, takes off his coat; sits down, smokes; is handed a paper by attendant, who points out a joke; both...

A vaudeville routine: two denizens of the Bowery dance while under the influence. She's wearing a light dress with a full skirt. He wears a white...

From Edison films catalog: One of the most peculiar customs of the Sioux Tribe is here shown, the dancers being genuine Sioux Indians, in full war...

Annie Oakley was probably the most famous marksman/woman in the world when this short clip was produced in Edison's Black Maria studio in West...

In a long, diaphanous skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended, Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore performs. Her dance emphasizes the movement of...

“A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the...

James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney meet in a boxing exhibition.

A charming representation of the Mikado dance by three beautiful Japanese ladies in full costume. Very effective when colored.

"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)

The pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman.

Lee Martin, one of the cowboy stars in 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West', rides a bronco as a crowd looks on. While the horse is trying to throw Martin off...

A scene from Charles Hoyt's 'A Milk White Flag': A brass band marches out, led by bandmaster Steele Ayers. When Ayers reaches his position, he turns...

Hadji Cheriff, a performer known for a variety of unusual abilities, demonstrates part of his act in the Thomas Edison studio. He has a large knife...

Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's circus, performs an Egyptian dance in the Edison Company's studio. As she dances, some musicians perform in the...

A Victorian couple dancing.

"Firemen in working uniform, rubber coats, helmets, and boots. Thrilling rescue from burning building. Smoke effects are fine." - from the Edison...

Vaudeville dancer Amy Muller performs a portion of her stage routine, which features dancing on her toes. She dances on one toe for part of the...

"Two German anglers are fishing, with odd results. One gets a bite, and pulls in a length of stovepipe. The other is so astonished that he falls...

Several men in a basement barbershop become excited by women walking past the window. The ankles and knees of the passersby are visible to the men...

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

A preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera.

The skaters dart to and fro, swinging their hockeys and trying to hit the disc toward the goal.

"The famous parade ground of Metropolitan fashion. Exquisitely gowned women, club men, actresses, millionaires pass by on their afternoon stroll." -...

The dancer Fatima, well-known for her dancing shows at the World's Exhibition in 1893, performs for the camera. She opens her act by twirling around...

A young boy dances on a table top.

The Reading's [Pennsylvania] pitcher has just let a Newark [New Jersey] batsman walk to first. Our camera is stationed about twenty feet from the...

"Two men, with hands tied, are eating huckleberry pies for a wager, direct from the plates. Their faces and shirts are clean when they start. Extra...

Director: William Heise Production Company: Edison Manufacturing Company Country: USA

"Stable door opens and ambulance dashes out into the street. Policeman holds back a furniture van till ambulance passes by."

"This scene shows almost the entire Fire Department led by the Chief, responding to an alarm. The horses, said to be the finest of their kind in the...

The famous show makes a parade.

Four men at work in a forge. The uses hammers and and anvil to beat metal.

In the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters...

“A scene representing Southern plantation life before the war. A jig and a breakdown by three colored boys.”

Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what...

The participants are natives of Ceylon. Their dance is very interesting being so different from Western ideas of harmonies of motion.

By Fiji Islanders. A peculiar dance by genuine savages, dressed or rather undressed, in their native garb. The revel takes its name from the paddles...

Samoan Islanders from Barnum & Bailey's Circus perform a dance.

The camera shows a water ride at Bergen Beach at Coney Island. A raised track filled with water forms a chute, and a small boat full of park visitors...

A referee and five fans (including a waiter in his apron) look on as two young men box. The dark-haired, slightly taller boxer throws a right and the...

Two gamecocks are fighting inside a wire cage, while two spectators look on in the background. The two men agree to make a bet on the outcome. One of...

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the...

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1" and "Monkeyshines, No. 2". Once again, an Edison company worker moves...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

Experimental film that follows up on the results of "Monkeyshines, No. 1". Once again, an Edison company worker moves around in front of the motion...

A woman in a white gown performs a skirt dance, using her arms to produce circles and other patterns within the folds of her costume. Her legs and...

Lost film from 1891, directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. The film stars Fred C. Devonald and James C. Duncan.

Lost film from 1891, directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise.

Lost film from 1891, directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. The film stars James C. Duncan.

Unfound film from 1891, directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. The film stars James C. Duncan.

The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete".

The famous show makes a parade.

The victim is lying on a trolley car fender. Ambulance drives up and the injured man is removed in a stretcher.

This single camera position film shows an officer and six enlisted men of the army as they demonstrate the assembly drill of a gatling gun. See also:...

"Shows the beach at Long Branch, N.J. immediately after a heavy storm. The breaking waves dash over a row of spiles, throwing a spray high into the...

The stars-and-stripes and the flag of Cuba Libre flutter in the breeze, one after the other. Very dramatic. Appeals to the popular sentiment....

Three sisters dance the Mikado in this very early film from the Edison company.

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes two characters, then dies abruptly in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes a group of people and compels them to perform various humorous acts in a Trilby segment from David...

The Leigh Sisters perform a risqué Trilby-inspired dance with an umbrella. Scene from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United...

Shows ten horses hitched to fashionable carts driven past the judges and grandstand to show their style, action and high-stepping movements. Among...

Shows ten horses hitched to fashionable carts driven past the judges and grandstand to show their style, action and high-stepping movements. Among...

Former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards, now a trainer and writer of the sport, takes on a challenger named Warwick in an exhibition match. The match...

"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)

The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete".

A woman and a young girl each carry containers of bird feed, and they toss occasional handfuls to the chickens and doves in the farmyard. Most of the...

In this movie, dancer Ella Lola performs a Turkish variation of a "Danse Du Ventre", the oriental belly dance. In her dance she shakes, twists and...

“This film is remarkable in several respects. In the first place, it is full life-size. Secondly, it is the only accurate recent portrait of...

A woman in a white gown performs a skirt dance, using her arms to produce circles and other patterns within the folds of her costume. Her legs and...

A lady watering the garden with a hose, a mischievous boy stops the flow of water until she looks for the cause, when he permits the water to flow,...

The famous army scout in an exhibition of rifle shooting. A fine picture of the principal, and beautiful smoke effects.

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the...

“The watchful father disturbs a dream of bliss, and the bucolic lover is taught a lesson. He made a great hit.” (Edison film catalog)

A fellow in a wide-brimmed hat, with a willowy stick for a rod and a baited hook, sits down on a plank hanging over a bridge above a stream. He...

“This subject taken just after the recent first fall of snow, shows two enthusiastic horsemen indulging in a "brush" with their respective...

“A file of Spanish soldiers line up the Cubans against a blank wall and fire a volley. The flash of rifles and drifting smoke make a very...

This picture was taken at one of the curves on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, along the beautiful Susquehanna River. The train is seen rapidly...

1897 version of Annabelle Moore performing a serpentine dance.

Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what...

Selection of hand-painted films made from serpentine dance performances between 1895 and 1907, with original music by Carol Robinson. Produced for...

The children come sliding down the hill on their sleds, and run the gauntlet of volleys of snowballs thrown by boys on both sides of the street.

A short film depicting the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Mary is brought to the execution block and made to kneel down with her neck over...

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest...

Eugen Sandow, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, appears in the Edison Company's film studio.

Former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards, now a trainer and writer of the sport, takes on a challenger named Warwick in an exhibition match. The match...

Luis Martinetti, a contortionist suspended from acrobatic flying rings, contorts himself for about thirty seconds. This is one of the first films...

An athlete demonstrating various poses.

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

King of the slack wire. His daring feats of balancing as he performs his thrilling feats in midair show that he is perfectly at home.

Views of Buffalo Bills Wild West Show.