Blacksmith Scene (1893)

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.

Director:

William K.L. Dickson (uncredited)

Stars:

Charles Kayser, John Ott

1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Charles Kayser	...	Blacksmith (uncredited)
John Ott	...	Assistant (uncredited)

Storyline

A stationary camera looks at a large anvil with a blacksmith behind it and one on either side. The smith in the middle draws a heated metal rod from the fire, places it on the anvil, and all three begin a rhythmic hammering. After several blows, the metal goes back in the fire. One smith pulls out a bottle of beer, and they each take a swig. Then, out comes the glowing metal and the hammering resumes.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | beer | blacksmith | two word title | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

9 May 1893 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blacksmithing Scene

Filming Locations:

Edison Laboratories, West Orange, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

1 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is posted online to the Library of Congress' National Screening Room.

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Connections

Featured in These Amazing Shadows (2011)

User Reviews

Hammering entertainment into the twentieth century

'Blacksmith Scene (1893)' was one of the first commercially-exhibited motion pictures, filmed in April 1893 and first screened publicly at the Brooklyn Institute on May 9, 1893. The set-up is pretty simple: three blacksmiths (actually employees of Thomas Edison) start hammering away at a heated metal rod and an anvil, before pausing to pass around a bottle of beer. The acting from two of the performers is convincing enough; the third blacksmith, on the left, doesn't even pretend that the beer bottle contains any liquid, briefly pressing the rim to his mouth and then removing it without even the pretence of drinking. The film's first seven seconds have the silhouette of a fourth party blocking the left side of the frame, before somebody presumably told him to get out of the way. While watching this didn't give me the same thrill as the Lumière brothers' 'Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895),' 'Blacksmith Scene' is still an important historical curiosity. I'm grateful that the National Film Registry always remembers to honour and preserve even these apparently-innocuous snippets of cinema history.