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Edison - The Invention of the Movies (1891-1918)
Edison - The Invention of the Movies is a four-disc treasure trove of 140 of the first moving pictures ever seen, spanning the birth of cinema from 1891-1918. The collaboration between Kino Video and the Museum of Modern Art includes 14-second-long camera tests, early special effects, street scenes, humorous shorts, and "The Great Train Robbery," widely considered the world's first blockbuster. Arranged chronologically, the films gradually improve in technical sophistication and narrative complexity while providing riveting glimpses of American culture 100 years ago. Highlights include the slyly edited "The Gay Shoe Clerk," the phantasmagoric "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend," and a film of social justice called "The Kleptomaniac." Contemporary sensibilities will be challenged by persistent racial stereotypes in a number of the films, as well as by a horrific short showing the electrocution of an elephant. The educational possibilities represented in this set are vast. If Kino Video and MoMA had simply released these restored films on DVD, it would still be one of the notable releases of the year, but they have gone further by filling out the set with over two hours of interviews with scholars and archivists. The films can be watched with or without these explanatory interviews, which lend the kind of historical context and thoughtful analysis one finds on the best museum tours. We learn that Edison's first studio was a tar-papered contraption called "Black Maria" that could be rotated to take advantage of available sunlight. Patrick Loughney of The Library of Congress details how many of Edison's films survive on printed paper reels submitted to a copyright office that at the time had no way of cataloging film. Author Michelle Wallace provides insight on how the films represented--and perpetuated-- the stereotypes of the era. If viewers have any energy left after this erudite festival of moving images, there are more than 200 still images from MoMA's Edison Collection to browse. The film history buff's collection is simply not complete without this set. --Ryan Boudinot
Manufacturer: Kino Video
Price Range: $60.68 - $99.95
 Edison - The Invention of the Movies (1891-1918)
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| User Reviews |  | Perhaps the Most Important DVD Release
rating: 5
This set, released by Kino in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art, is perhaps the most important DVD release from a historical standpoint. It's a chronological collection of a vast number of films produced by the Edison company, from their earliest experiments (which exist merely as fragmented still frames today, and that have been re-animated here to provide a demonstration of how they were intended to move), to the first Kinetoscope releases, following the progress from single, static-shot actualities to multiple-shot narrative films, and finally ending with some of the best work being done in films in their time, especially Oscar Apfel's brilliant "The Passerby" from 1912. The most recent film on this set is "The Unbeliever", a war-time feature directed by Alan Crosland and featuring Erich von Stroheim in a supporting role.
Technically, the discs are flawless. The films feature a nice variety of music scores (and unlike so many recent DVD releases of silent films, these scores are all very appropriate for the films). Clearly, these films are accompanied by truly talented musical accompanists, not up-and-coming musicians who use the silent film merely as a backdrop to showcase their music. This is to Kino's credit, and all the accompanists who worked on this collection deserve our thanks.
The picture quality is quite good throughout. Even when the original films survive in less-than-pristine condition, Kino's transfers are always state-of-the-art. The layout of the disc is interesting-the viewer has the option of watching only the films (chosen from a menu), or watching the films interspersed with interviews by a number of Edison and early motion picture historians, archivists and professors. The first disc features some nice bonus material, including some of the early Kinetoscope films with their original "Kinetophone" musical accompaniment, which patrons could hear through headphones in the first Kinetoscope parlors.
Finally, there are extensive notes (including production history and cast and crew information when available) on all the films in this collection. These are also available as .pdf files attached to the disc.
The set is truly staggering in how successfully it showcases virtually the entire history of the Edison Motion Picture Company. For anyone seriously interested in the history of film, this is a must. I suspect the largest audience for a set like this will be film schools and colleges, where it would make a valuable addition to any media library. As one historian points out, these films are no longer just of value to film students, but students of architecture, technology, fashion and sociology, as they provide filmed records of the past as it really existed.
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Pure gold from film's birth years
rating: 5
If you have any interest in the first years of American movies, this boxed set will fascinate you.
Thomas A. Edison invented many of the processes that made motion pictures as we understand them possible. From his earliest, very brief test films made in his miniature studio the Black Maria, to the full-lenth feature "The Unbeliever" about a privileged man's education in the trenches in World War I, you can watch Edison's work become steadily more professional and entertaining.
Among the short films shown, one especially, a comedy called "Black Eyes," fascinated me, as I am a big Laurel and Hardy fan. Watching "Black Eyes" I can see where Stan and Ollie got the basic idea for several of their movies, including their best feature, "Sons of the Desert."
There are more than 16 hours of unique entertainment beginning in the early 1890s here; they're well worth the price.
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A great collection of early films with insightful commentary
rating: 5
This set contains 140 films made by the Edison Company during the years 1891-1918. Unlike the other bundle of Edison's movies, this one has extensive commentary so that you get a real feel for Edison's place in motion picture history, his successes, and finally what caused the downfall of the movie-making part of Edison's extensive empire. Most early Edison films are under a minute in length and were done as experiments as much as anything. However, Edison's 1903 film, "The Great Train Robbery", is considered the very first success at making a popular motion picture that even remotely resembles what we have today, and is included in this set.
The set pretty much goes forward chronologically in time from disc one through four. Disc one has Edison's earliest films including his experiments with sound on film. Edison, in fact, underestimated the problems involved and originally predicted that movies with synchronized sound could be accomplished by 1910. Discs two and three have the more popular Edison films on them, and even show director Edwin S. Porter as emerging with a unique directorial style. Disc four was not as much fun for me as the first three, since it largely documents the decline and fall of the Edison Company, and the films on that disc demonstrate why. As directors such as D.W. Griffith were turning feature films into an artform, the Edison Company was largely making movies about industry and even some campaign films. This is really essential viewing for anyone who wants the details on Edison's place in motion picture history.
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Stunning
rating: 5
Prior to watching the films on this set, I had only seen a handful of films from the 1890s and Aughts combined, and was barely better-acquainted with the films of the Teens, only having seen thirtysomething films from that decade. This collection really serves to fill a hole for people whose primary experience with early cinema comes from the Twenties and Teens. I actually found myself liking the first two discs best, the films from the 1890s and the early and mid-Aughts. It's really a wonder how back then you could fit so much into only a film that was like five to fifteen minutes long, and rarely ever need intertitles to explain anything. The films from the 1890s are even more wonderous to behold; none of them are over a minute long, yet people back then didn't care, since they had never seen moving images before. This was really a breathtaking thing for them, short as they may be. These very early films also documented many vaudeville acts, providing a small window into a long-bygone form of entertainment. Watching all of these films and interviews and going through all of the bonus material isn't a one-day project, that's for certain. (The program notes on the first disc even have some bonus films that aren't listed on the main film index!) It's not for people who are looking only to be entertained, but for those who are serious about film history and just history in general (so many of these films document things that are long gone, like styles of dress, cars, horse-drawn carriages, sidewalk markets, social codes, and technology), it's a real treasure-trove. Maybe a second volume will be released someday?
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Great Set
rating: 5
This set is great for early film buffs. But, since most of them are in the public domain, they are easily found online at government sites to download free. Spending a few hours downloading from the Library of Congress site, and you will have the same collection.
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Edison - The Invention of the Movies (1891-1918)
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