Thomas A. Edison Movies

By the time he died in 1931, Thomas Alva Edison was one of the most famous men in the world. The holder of more patents than any other inventor in...

A line is shot to the man clinging to the overturned boat. He fastens it to his body using all his fast failing strength. The crew pull him through...

A documentary overview of the career of silent cinema pioneer Edwin S. Porter.

The Edison Quartet perform songs as blacksmiths. This was one of 200 projects produced using the Edison Kinetophone system. The Kinetophone was a...

A short film depicting the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Mary is brought to the execution block and made to kneel down with her neck over...

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

On February 17, 1913, after many years of R+D, Thomas Alva Edison introduced the Edison Kinetophone to an enthusiastic New York audience. The...

In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, a look is taken at the problems of film preservation efforts in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures.

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

A short documentary capturing the officers and crew of the USS Brooklyn during a naval parade in Brooklyn, New York, on October 1, 1898, following...

James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney meet in a boxing exhibition.

A showcase of trapeze artist Alciede Capitaine, billed as “The Perfect Woman,” whose daring feats on the flying bar combined grace with...

At the dawn of cinema and the notion of a moving image, a fierce battle commenced between inventors Louis Le Prince and Thomas Edison to conceive and...

From Edison films catalog: One of the most peculiar customs of the Sioux Tribe is here shown, the dancers being genuine Sioux Indians, in full war...

The only known moving-image footage of the author, filmed at his home, Stormfield, in Redding, Connecticut. The silent short shows Twain walking...

The crew of seven dressed in cork jackets, push the boat through the surf; they clamber in and row out to the wreck. 50 ft.

A comic sketch that features two players who think each one is deaf, causing them to shout. Part of the Edison Kinetophone Collection. The...

Filmed at the second inauguration of William McKinley on March 4, 1901, this short captures the president taking the oath of office at the U.S....

The evening presentation of distinguished guests from earlier that afternoon.