1897 in film

The following is an overview of the events of 1897 in film, including a list of films released and notable births.

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Events

• January 28 – The first Venezuelan-made films are screened at the Baralt Theatre in Maracaibo, two locally-made actuality shorts, Un célebre especialista sacando muelas en el gran Hotel Europa and Muchachos bañándose en la laguna de Maracaibo.[1]
• May 4 – During a film screening at the Charity Bazaar in Paris, a curtain catches on fire from the ether used to fuel the projector lamp. The fire spreads and becomes catastrophic, ultimately resulting in 126 deaths.[2]
• June 20 – Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession filmed.[3]
• The American Vitagraph Company is founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in Brooklyn.
• Mitchell and Kenyon go into a film-making partnership at Blackburn in the north of England.[4]
• Enoch J. Rector develops a 63 mm film format called Veriscope, which films The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight on March 17.
• Thomas Henry Blair develops a 48 mm film format called Viventoscope.

Films released in 1897

• After The Ball, directed by Georges Méliès. First film to create the illusion of female nudity through a skin looking designed costume.
• Baignade dans le torrent, directed by Alice Guy-Blaché.
• La Bandera Argentina, believed for a long time to have been the first Argentine film. Now considered lost.
• Between Calais and Dover directed by Georges Méliès. A fictitious sea crossing.
• The Bewitched Inn (L'Auberge Ensorcelee), directed by Georges Méliès.
• Buffalo Police on Parade, produced by Edison Studios.
• The Cabinet of Mephistopheles (aka The Laboratory of Mephistopheles), directed by George Melies.[5]
• Chicago Police Parade, directed by Louis Lumière.
• The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight, a documentary directed by Enoch J. Rector. The first film shot in widescreen. At an hour and 40 minutes, it is the first known feature film ever made.
• Cupid and Psyche, produced by Edison Studios.
• An Hallucinated Alchemist, directed by Georges Méliès. May be the first film to feature stop motion animation in cinema.
• Faust and Marguerite, directed by George Melies.[6]
• The Haunted Castle, directed by George Albert Smith (British).[7]
• The Haverstraw Tunnel
• Horses Loading for Klondike, directed by James H. White.
• The Hypnotist at Work directed by Georges Méliès [8]
• Kørsel med Grønlandske Hunde, directed by Peter Elfelt; the first Danish movie sequence ever filmed.
• The Last Cartridges directed by . A dramatised war scene.
• Leander Sisters, produced by Edison Studios.
• Leaving Jerusalem by Railway, directed by Alexandre Promio and released by the Lumière brothers. May include the first moving camera shot in cinema.
• Lurline Baths, produced by Edison Studios.
• Making Sausages, directed by George Albert Smith.
• The Milker's Mishap, directed by James H. White; it is unknown whether or not this film has survived.
• New Pillow Fight, produced by Siegmund Lubin.
• Niagara Falls, directed by Louis Lumière.
• Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer, directed by George Albert Smith.
• On the Roofs, directed by Georges Méliès.
• Peeping Tom,a production of the American Mutoscope Company. A comedy.
• Prince Ranjitsinhji Practising Batting in the Nets, one of the earliest known films of Cricket
• Sea Fighting in Greece directed by Georges Méliès. A dramatised naval war scene.
• Seminary Girls, directed by James H. White.
• Spanish Bullfight, directed by Louis Lumière
• The Surrender of Tournavos directed by Georges Méliès. A dramatised war scene.
• Sutro Baths, No. 1, produced by Edison Studios.
• The X-Rays, directed by George Albert Smith. Cited as one of the first examples of special effects by jump cut.
• Salida de la misa de doce de la Iglesia del Pilar de Zaragoza a short silent film by Eduardo Jimeno, a pioneer of the Spanish cinema. Probably the first film made in Spain by a Spaniard.
• A Twentieth Century Surgeon, directed by George Melies.

Births

• January 3
  • Marion Davies, American actress (died 1961)
  • Pola Negri, Polish-American actress (died 1987)
• January 10 – Lya De Putti, Hungarian actress (died 1931)
• January 30 – Mary Ellis, American singer and actress (died 2003)
• February 10 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (died 1992)
• February 12 – Vola Vale, American actress (died 1970)
• February 19 – Alma Rubens, American actress (died 1931)
• March 16 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (died 1970)
• March 19 – Betty Compson, American actress (died 1974)
• May 18 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director (died 1991)
• June 16 – Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (died 1948)
• June 19 – Moe Howard, American actor and comedian (died 1975)
• June 23 – Alexandru Giugaru, Romanian actor (died 1986)
• July 10 – John Gilbert, American actor (died 1936)
• August 31 – Fredric March, American actor (died 1975)
• October 6 – Francine Mussey, French actress (died 1933)
• October 28 – Edith Head, American costume designer (died 1981)
• September 3 – Cecil Parker (Schwabe), English actor (died 1971)
• September 23 – Walter Pidgeon, American actor (died 1984)
• November 13 – Gertrude Olmstead, American actress (died 1975)
• November 25 – Ruth Etting, American actress, singer (died 1978)

Debut

• Marshall P. Wilder

External links

• 1897 in film playlist on YouTube

References

1. "Cines Unidos conmemora el Día Nacional del Cine". Analitica. 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
2. Amoedo, O. (13 June 1998). "[Fire on the Charity Bazaar]". Rev Museo Fac Odontol B Aires. 13: 16–20. PMID 11625405.
3. Klein, Christopher (5 June 2012). "Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee". history.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
4. Vanessa Toulmin; Simon Popple; Patrick Russell (2004). The lost world of Mitchell and Kenyon. BFI Publications. p. 6. ISBN 1844570460.
5. Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 10.
6. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
7. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
8. Kinnard,Roy (1995). "Horror in Silent Films". McFarland and Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0036-6. Page 10.