Silent Era Information*Progressive Silent Film List*Lost Films*People*Theatres
Taylorology*Articles*Home Video*Books*Search
 
Pandora's Box BD
 
Silent Era Home Page  >  PSFL  >  Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1902)
 
Progressive Silent Film List
A growing source of silent era film information.
This listing is from The Progressive Silent Film List by Carl Bennett.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.
About This Listing

Report Omissions or Errors
in This Listing

 

Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show
(1902) United States of America
B&W : [?] 120 or 125? feet
Directed by Edwin S. Porter

Cast: Charles ‘Daddy’ Manley [Uncle Josh]

Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Cinematography by Edwin S. Porter. / © 27 January 1902 by Thomas A. Edison. Released January 1902. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film incorporates footage from Parisian Dance (1897), Black Diamond Express (1896) and Country Couple (presumed to have been made for this film). The production utilizes double exposure and matte shots. The projection effect was done by means of a custom Edison optical printer.

Comedy.

Synopsis: Uncle Josh is overexcited by his first motion picture experience and eventually tears down the picture screen attempting to help the movie heroine. // [From Edison promotional materials] A side-splitter. Uncle Josh occupies a box at a vaudeville theatre, where a moving picture show is going on. First a dancer appears upon the screen. Uncle Josh jumps to the stage and endeavors to make love to her, but she flits away, and immediately there appears upon the screen the picture of an express train running at sixty miles an hour. Uncle Josh becomes panic-stricken, and fearing to be struck by the train, makes a dash for his box. He is no sooner seated than a country couple appear upon the screen, at a well. Before they pump the pail full of water they indulge in a love-making scene. Uncle Josh thinks he recognizes his own daughter, jumps upon the stage, removes his coat and prepares to chastise the lover, and grabbing the moving picture screen he hauls it down, and to his great surprise finds a kinetoscope operator in the rear. The operator is made furious by Uncle Josh interrupting his show, and grappling with him they roll over and over upon the stage in an exciting encounter.

Survival status: Print exists in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive].

Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].

Keywords: Dances - Fights - Film-within-film - Motion picture projection - Movie theaters - Railroads: Railroad tracks - Title slides - Transportation: Trains, Train tracks

Listing updated: 20 January 2010.

References: Film viewing : Bohn-Light p. 17; Fell-History p. 24, 48; Leyda-Before pp. 65, 66; Musser-Emerge p. 19; Niver-First pp. 22-23, 24; Sklar-Movie p. 26 : ClasIm-301 p. 30 : Website-AFI.

Home video: DVD.

 
Silent Era Home Page  >  PSFL  >  Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1902)
 
Melies Encore DVD
Become a Patron of Silent Era

LINKS IN THIS COLUMN
WILL TAKE YOU TO
EXTERNAL WEBSITES

SUPPORT SILENT ERA
USING THESE LINKS
WHEN SHOPPING AT
AMAZON

AmazonUS
AmazonCA
AmazonUK

Edison: The Invention of the Movies

The Movies Begin DVD

Cat and the Canary Standard BD

Charley Chase 1927 BD

Capra at Columbia UHD/BD

Little Rascals Vol 1 BD

Floating Weeds BD