Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene (1899)

Release Date:

May 1899 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Short

Plot:

"Shows the tap room of the 'Miner's Arms,' stout lady at bar, and three men playing stud horse. Old toper with a silk hat asleep by the stove...

Produced by
James H. White	....	producer

Production Companies

• Edison Manufacturing Company

Distributors

• Edison Manufacturing Company

Runtime:

USA:46 sec

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Black Maria Studio, West Orange, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Trivia:

The film lasted one minute, had no action, and the role of a barmaid was played by a man.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America (1997) (TV)

Perhaps it was the first filmed western with a plot.

The western was among the first film genres, growing in status alongside the development of Hollywood's studio production system. There were only a few great silent westerns, although the best ones established some of the archetypes that are part of the genre even today. The earliest westerns (silent films without the sound of gunfire, horse's hoof beats, and the cattle trail) are gems of American history.

The earliest cowboy film may possibly be Thomas Edison's Cripple Creek Bar Room Scene (1898), perhaps it was the first filmed western with a plot (be it ever so thin). Shows the tap room of the Miners' Arms, a stout lady at the bar, and three men playing cards. Old toper with a silk hat asleep by the stove. Rough miner enters, barmaid serves him with Red Eye Whiskey and he proceeds to clean out the place. Barmaid takes a hand with a siphon of vichy, and bounces the intruder, with the help of the card players, who line up before the bar and take numerous drinks on the house.