Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueBilly Edwards and a challenger named Warwick fight an exhibition boxing match.Billy Edwards and a challenger named Warwick fight an exhibition boxing match.Billy Edwards and a challenger named Warwick fight an exhibition boxing match.
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- AnecdotesOriginally filmed in five rounds, with each round exhibited separately in adjoining kinetoscopes. Only one round survives.
- ConnexionsFeatured in Edison: The Invention of the Movies (2005)
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One of the Later Entries in Edison's "Boxing" Series
1895 was a very important and changing year for Edison, for it was the very year the company's relatively new motion picture system would be topped. Ever since the first showing of motion pictures in the USA (on May 9, 1893 with the short films "Horse Shoeing" and "Blacksmith Scene") the new medium, courtesy of the Kinetograph, was already beginning to attract crowds; by the time the first Kinetoscope parlor opened on Broadway April the 14th 1894, the invention was becoming popular still, with its brief sneak peeks at popular vaudeville performers; but in 1895, a new and more sophisticated invention began to threaten this popularity: the Cinematograph. Using the Kinetoscope (which was seen most prominently in 1894) a single person alone would be able to glimpse moving pictures through a peephole in exchange for their money; but when the Lumiere Brothers' invention became introduced late 1895, a more developed medium overshadowed the Kinetograph. The moving pictures the Cinematograph could produce were longer and more detailed; they were smoother; and most importantly, they could be projected on a screen, which certainly beat Edison's Kinetoscope peephole by a lot. Thus, when 1896 hit, the company was already beginning to change their ways in accordance with the Lumieres' invention.
"Billy Edwards and the Unknown" was made earlier in 1895, before the competition began, and also appears to be the last known film Edison produced in the boxing genre--a genre which had been most popular in 1894. This genre had originally begun in 1891, a year some of Edison's earliest camera tests were shot: "Men Boxing", a boxing-themed movie starring amateurs, was among them. (I say "boxing-themed" because the men in it were only factory workers playing the parts of boxers, they were not true lightweight performers). In 1892, experimentation had continued with a series of sport-themed tests (including "Man on Parallel Bars", "Wrestling" and "Fencing"); once more, a boxing short featured among these. The genre then blossomed in 1894, with such boxers as James Corbett, Mike Leonard, and Eugene Hornbacker featured prominently in actual matches taking place within the Black Maria studio. Each match consisted of five or six thirty-second rounds which were then shown in the Kinetoscope parlors.
Why, one might ask, was the company obsessed with boxing? Simple answer: it was illegal in certain states, thus it was a huge hit with audiences. Humankind has always had the tendency to stray toward the wrong; so if Edison were to show the masses events that were banned and looked down upon, it was only natural everyone would flock to see it. Likewise was the case with the risque belly-dances and other dirty material: the company filmed it all. If you have anyone to blame for the garbage filmed in Hollywood today, blame it on them. The great inventor might have been responsible for the lightbulb and many other things, but let's face it: Edison was a dirty old man.
This brief feature from the popular series apparently had five complete rounds like all the others the company filmed, but like the earlier features from 1894, only one survives. The fifteen-second round consists of the former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards battling furiously against his opponent, an underdog who's last name was recorded as being Warwick (his first name is unknown). As the round ends, the blows subside and each go to their chairs in the corners of the ring for a short break. Their garb is slightly odd for boxing: white unitards, completely covering the bodies of both men. One might normally expect a more immodest outfit for such an energetic sport.
Likely as not, the main reason Edison stopped with the boxing after this was due to the Cinematograph. Not only was it more advanced than the Kinetograph, the Lumieres used their equipment to film scenes outdoors, something which the company had almost never done. The black background of the studio just couldn't cut it after awhile, so like the Lumieres, the Edison company too would begin to shoot on location by the time 1896 came around. In the meantime, they were making quite a fortune off these brief sneak peeks of popular performers filmed within the Black Maria.
"Billy Edwards and the Unknown" was made earlier in 1895, before the competition began, and also appears to be the last known film Edison produced in the boxing genre--a genre which had been most popular in 1894. This genre had originally begun in 1891, a year some of Edison's earliest camera tests were shot: "Men Boxing", a boxing-themed movie starring amateurs, was among them. (I say "boxing-themed" because the men in it were only factory workers playing the parts of boxers, they were not true lightweight performers). In 1892, experimentation had continued with a series of sport-themed tests (including "Man on Parallel Bars", "Wrestling" and "Fencing"); once more, a boxing short featured among these. The genre then blossomed in 1894, with such boxers as James Corbett, Mike Leonard, and Eugene Hornbacker featured prominently in actual matches taking place within the Black Maria studio. Each match consisted of five or six thirty-second rounds which were then shown in the Kinetoscope parlors.
Why, one might ask, was the company obsessed with boxing? Simple answer: it was illegal in certain states, thus it was a huge hit with audiences. Humankind has always had the tendency to stray toward the wrong; so if Edison were to show the masses events that were banned and looked down upon, it was only natural everyone would flock to see it. Likewise was the case with the risque belly-dances and other dirty material: the company filmed it all. If you have anyone to blame for the garbage filmed in Hollywood today, blame it on them. The great inventor might have been responsible for the lightbulb and many other things, but let's face it: Edison was a dirty old man.
This brief feature from the popular series apparently had five complete rounds like all the others the company filmed, but like the earlier features from 1894, only one survives. The fifteen-second round consists of the former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards battling furiously against his opponent, an underdog who's last name was recorded as being Warwick (his first name is unknown). As the round ends, the blows subside and each go to their chairs in the corners of the ring for a short break. Their garb is slightly odd for boxing: white unitards, completely covering the bodies of both men. One might normally expect a more immodest outfit for such an energetic sport.
Likely as not, the main reason Edison stopped with the boxing after this was due to the Cinematograph. Not only was it more advanced than the Kinetograph, the Lumieres used their equipment to film scenes outdoors, something which the company had almost never done. The black background of the studio just couldn't cut it after awhile, so like the Lumieres, the Edison company too would begin to shoot on location by the time 1896 came around. In the meantime, they were making quite a fortune off these brief sneak peeks of popular performers filmed within the Black Maria.
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- Tornado_Sam
- 1 mars 2019
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Détails
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- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- Билли Эдвардс и неизвестный
- Société de production
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- Durée1 minute
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