Thomas A. Edison Movies

Experimental test footage from Edison’s earliest motion picture work, capturing camera trials, exposure studies, and mechanical movement....

Civil War drama of a Confederate spy who is captured by Union soldiers.

Metropolitan Opera stars, tenor Enrico Caruso and bass-baritone Pol Plancon, in a scene from the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" filmed in Edison...

In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, a look is taken at the problems of film preservation efforts in the 1930s and early 1940s.

A formerly lost Edison film from 1912.

A location actuality filmed in Philadelphia (May 27–28, 1904) documenting the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association’s championships:...

A satirical short produced to highlight the unreasonable extremes of local film censorship—a film so heavily censored that only the title cards...

Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures.

An Edison Kinetophone short featuring leading suffragists Harriet May Mills, Mrs. James Lees Laidlaw, Mrs. Raymond Brown, Mrs. John Rogers, Jr., and...

This short captures the thrill of winter sport in Canada, showing skiers racing downhill at high speed before leaping over a snow-built hurdle. Most...

A short film in which the members of the Motion Pictures Patents Company (which had been founded only a year earlier) congratulate Thomas Edison...

On February 17, 1913, after many years of R+D, Thomas Alva Edison introduced the Edison Kinetophone to an enthusiastic New York audience. The...

Filmed on January 1, 1899, this Edison short shows a victory march by General Lee and the Seventh Army Corps. When watching these early films it's...

This film records the arrival of the Governor General of Canada, the Earl of Minto, accompanied by the Countess of Minto and their household, as they...

“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...

The Birth of the Telephone (1914) is a Kinetophone short produced by Edison, featuring Thomas A. Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell,...

An Edison Kinetophone short presenting an on-stage minstrel company performing musical numbers and patter; made as part of Edison’s early...

A short Edison Kinetophone film, part of Edison’s early experiments in synchronizing sound and image. Distributed by General Film Company....

Shows ice plows in operation, drawn by horses and guided by men on skates. The plows are first operated in one direction and then crosswise, cutting...

The Old Violin (1914) is a Kinetophone short produced by Edison, directed by Daniel Higham. The film features an elderly violinist reprimanding a...