Annie Oakley (1894 film)

Annie Oakley
Directed byWilliam Kennedy Dickson
Produced byWilliam Kennedy Dickson
StarringAnnie Oakley
Frank E. Butler
CinematographyWilliam Heise
Distributed byEdison Manufacturing Company
Release date
  • 1894 (1894)
Running time
90 seconds
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

Annie Oakley is an 1894 American black-and-white silent film from Edison Studios, produced by William K. L. Dickson with William Heise as cinematographer.

Synopsis

The film shows Oakley performing trick shooting as she was known for in her live shows. The first scene is of Oakley shooting her Marlin 91 .22 caliber rifle 25 times in 27 seconds. There is also a scene of her shooting composition balls in the air.[1] The man assisting her is likely her husband, Frank E. Butler. Both were veterans of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.[2]: 201–202, 262 

Background

The film is most notable for being Annie Oakley's first appearance on film. Thomas Edison had wanted to see if his kinetoscope could capture the smoke from a rifle,[3] so he employed Oakley to film some of her shooting.[4]: 66  In 1894, kinetoscopes were installed in 60 locations in major cities around the country.[5]: 53  Viewing the films cost a nickel.[1]: 55 

It was filmed on a single reel using standard 35 mm gauge at Edison's Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, November 1, 1894. The original film had a 90-second runtime.[4]: 66  The surviving film is preserved by the Library of Congress.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sayers, Isabelle S. (June 26, 2012). Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-14075-9.
  2. ^ Leal, Juan Felipe (September 1, 2010). 1901: Segunda parte. El cine se difunde (in Spanish). Juan Pablos Editor, S.A.
  3. ^ a b Soodalter, Ron (February 2015). "Annie Oakley vs. Hearst's Worst". Wild West. 27 (5): 30–37.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b Haugen, Brenda (2007). Annie Oakley: American Sharpshooter. Capstone. ISBN 978-0-7565-1869-1.
  5. ^ Balio, Tino (March 4, 1985). The American Film Industry. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-09873-5.