Troop “B,” 15th U.S. Cavalry Bareback Squad in the “Monkey Drill” at Fort Myer, VA.
(1910) United States of America
B&W : Split-reel / [?] 240 or 285? feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: (unknown)
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / © 14 January 1910 by Edison Manufacturing Company [J137402]. Released 14 January 1910; in a split-reel with A Warrior Bold (1910) and The Parson’s Umbrella (1910). / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / Edison production number 6575.
Documentary.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 15 January 1910, page ?] We have seen daring specimens of horsemanship by the Cossacks and riders of other nationalities, but so far as we know this is the first time that such feats, exhibited by a regular troop of cavalry of the United States Army, have been thrown upon the canvas. It was only through the combination of fortuitous circumstances that we were able to get the picture, and we feel that the trade will share with us our gratification at the result. Pictures portraying scenes in the daily routine of Uncle Sam’s boys have an unfailing attraction for the public. Particularly is this true of cavalry pictures, the action of which is necessarily rapid and exciting, and keeps the interest of an audience keyed up to a high pitch at all times while the reel is being run. Troop ‘B,’ 15th United States Cavalry, has a national reputation for daring horsemanship, and the picture shows them in all of the difficult feats they accomplish. The work is all done so smoothly that it looks easy, but we can well believe that it is accomplished only after weeks and months of most arduous practice, which is not unattended with danger. The pictures also are a testimonial to the high moral standard of the U.S. Army at the present time, for it is incredible that these feats, requiring as they do acrobatic skill and dexterity of a high order, could be performed by men whose mode of living is not clean and sober.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 29 January 1910, page ?] Foreign cavalry troops have often been reproduced in motion pictures, but so far as the writer remembers this is the first time a troop of United States cavalry has ever been thus photographed. The Edison Company offers a film which is certain to be popular. The American people are proud of their soldiers and sailors and hail them with delight whenever afforded an opportunity. This picture will give many thousands a chance to see United States cavalrymen in difficult and dangerous drills. It will serve another and perhaps quite as important purpose. It will prove that the personnel of the army must be high, because only men of the highest physical and moral type could ever master these drills.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 5 April 2024.
References: MovPicWorld-19100108 p. 28 : Website-AFI.
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