The long-in-gestation final episode of Old Dogs, New Tricks was so long, that we cut it into 3 EPISODES (!), making it a mini-series! Throughout these 3 episodes, we continue to follow the career of George Albert Smith. Along the way, we discuss the old Pepper's Ghost trick and its use in film; the importance of spiritualism to the burgeoning feminist movement in the Victorian era; film camera and projector developments such as the Biokam and Bioscope; early color film processes, such as Kinemacolor; and the problems with copyright (or the lack thereof) in Victorian cinema. We briefly discuss English filmmaker James Williamson and Indian filmmaker D. G. Phalke, as well as tie up the stories of the Society for Psychical Research, Blackburn's confession, Georges Melies, and G. A. Smith. And, of course, we finish our discussion of the mysterious death of Frank Podmore - our cliffhanger from Episode 03. Plus, so much more!
The films we will discuss include one of G. A. Smith's "facial" films - one-shots played mid-close-up that show changing facial expressions. In this "facial", famous stage comedian of the time Tom Green shows how lively he can get with a glass of beer.
Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer (1987)
We see early examples of a "point of view" shot with As Seen Through a Telescope (1900) and Grandma's Reading Glass (1900).
As Seen Through a Telescope (1900)
Grandma's Reading Glass (1900)
Smith's 1899 film The Kiss in the Tunnel is the earliest example of film editing in any form.
The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899)
The earliest depiction of Santa Claus in film and an early example of parallel action.
Santa Claus (1898)
And finally, we explore the Victorian fascination with the new X-Ray technology with G. A. Smith's The X-Rays, also known as The X-Ray Fiend (1897)
Other films that we discuss outside of Smith's output are:
The earliest film to use a reverse angle cut, James Williamson's Attack on a China Mission (1900)
And the earliest use of a close-up, also by British filmmaker James Williamson.
The Big Swallow (1901)
Finally, a Georges Méliès historical reconstruction of the coronation of King Edward VII. The success of this film gave rise to the historical film genre.
The Coronation of Edward VII (1902)
Episodes:
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Sources
Abel, R. (1998). The Cine Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914, Updated and Expanded Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press.
ACMI. (2022). George Albert Smith. Retrieved from ACMI: https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/45307--george-albert-smith/
Amberley Publishing. (2020). Judy Middleton. Retrieved from Amberley Publishing: https://www.amberley-books.com/author-community-main-page/m/community-judy-middleton.html
An Independent Guide to the Palace Theatre. (2020). About the Palace Theatre. Retrieved from An Independent Guide to the Palace Theatre, Shaftebury Avenue, London W1D 5AY: https://www.palacetheatrelondon.org/
Barnes, J. (1996). The Beginnings of the Cinema in England, 1894-1901: Volume 5. . Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1996.
Barnes, J. (2022). Alfred Darling. Retrieved from Who's Who of Victorian Cinema: https://www.victorian-cinema.net/darling.php
Beard, J. (2019, May 4). The Mysterious Deaths in the SPR. Retrieved from Jacqueline Beard Writer: https://jacquelinebeardwriter.com/2019/05/04/the-mysterious-deaths-of-the-psychical-researchers/
Bramwell, J. M. (1910). Hypnotism and Treatment by Suggestion. New York: Funk and Wagnalls Co.
Braude, A. (2001). Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, Second Edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Brighton & Hove City Council. (2022). Brighton & Hove City Council. Retrieved from St. Ann's Well Gardens: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/libraries-leisure-and-arts/parks-and-green-spaces/st-anns-well-gardens
British Pathe. (2022). 1890s Traffic Scenes. Retrieved from British Pathe: https://www.britishpathe.com/gallery/1890s-traffic/5
Broadway World. (2022). The Sound of Music - 1961. Retrieved from Broadway World: https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/The-Sound-of-Music-7267.html
Brooke, M. (2014). Attack On a China Mission (1900). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/520615/index.html
Brooke, M. (2014). Big Swallow, The (1901). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444628/index.html
Brooke, M. (2014). Grandma's Reading Glass (1900). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/443114/index.html
Brooke, M. (2014). Santa Claus (1898). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/725468/
Brown, S. (2014). Hepworth, Cecil (1874-1953). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/450004/
Buruma, I. (2016, November 24). Oscar Wild's 'Living Death'. The New York Review.
Carlaw, D. (2022). Kent County Cricketers A to Z, Part One: 1806-1914 (Revised Edition). Retrieved from Cricket Archive: https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf
Christie, I. (2016). The British Monarchy On Screen. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Christie's. (2022). Biokam camera no. 234. Retrieved from Christie's: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4320152
Clarens, C. (1997). An Illustrated History Of Horror And Science-fiction Films: The Classic Era, 1895-1967. Cambridge: Da Capo Press.
Conrad, L. M. (1892). Leon Marillier. The Athenaeum, 50-51.
Conrad, L. M. (1902). Leon Marillier. The Open Court, 50-51.
Coote, J. H. (1994). The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Oxford: Fountain Press Ltd.
Cornwell-Clyne, A. (1951). Colour Cinematography. London: Chapman and Hall.
Creative Media Partners, LLC. (2018). Robert Owen: A Biography; Volume 1 by Frank Podmore. Retrieved from Google Books:
Department of Psychology. (2022). William James. Retrieved from Harvard University: https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/william-james
Dissanayake, W., & K. Gokulsing, e. (2013). The Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. London: Routledge.
Domeier, N. (2015). The Eulenburg Affair: A Cultural History of Politics in the German Empire. New York: Camden House.
Editors of The Athenaeum. (1892). The Congress of Experimental Psychology. The Athenaeum Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Drama, 229.
Fairservice, D. (2001). Film Editing - History, Theory and Practice: Looking at the Invisible. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Fisher, D. (2009, July 13). Films made in Brighton & Hove: As Seen Through a Telescope. Retrieved from Brighton On Film: https://web.archive.org/web/20120322002732/http://www.terramedia.co.uk/brighton/brighton_films_telescope.htm
Fisher, D. (2012). Brighton & Hove from the dawn of the cinema. Retrieved from Brighton & Hove, film and cinema: https://web.archive.org/web/20150811070923/http://brightonfilm.com/brighton_chronology.htm
Fisher, D. (2012). Cinema-by-Sea: Film and Cinema in Brighton & Hove Since 1896. Brighton: Terra Media Ltd.
Fisher, D. (2022, June 24). Films made in the Brighton & Hove area: The silent era. Retrieved from Brighton History: https://www.brightonhistory.org.uk/film/films/films_made_in_brighton_silent.htm
Fisher, D. (2022). The history. Retrieved from Brighton & Hove, film and cinema: https://www.brightonhistory.org.uk/film/film_history1.html
Fletcher, T. (2022). Laura Bayley. Retrieved from Women Film Pioneers Project: https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-laura-bayley
Flueckiger, B. (2012). Kinemacolor. Retrieved from Timeline of Historical Film Colors: https://filmcolors.org/timeline-entry/1214/
Founier-Lanzoni, R. (2002). French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present. New York: Continuum.
Gans, A. (2012, April 11). Andrew Lloyd Webber Sells London's Palace Theatre. Retrieved from Playbill: https://playbill.com/article/andrew-lloyd-webber-sells-londons-palace-theatre-com-192412
Gerson, E. (2003). X-ray Mania: The "X-Ray" in Advertising, Circa 1895. Retrieved from Abstract Archives of the RSNA, 2003: http://archive.rsna.org/2003/3300013.html
Gerson, E. S. (2004). Scenes from the Past: X-ray Mania: The X Ray in Advertising, Circa 1895. Retrieved from RadioGraphics: https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/rg.242035157
Gray, F. (1998). Smith the Showman: The Early Years of George Albert Smith. Film History, 8-20.
Gray, F. (2014). Smith, G.A. (1864-1959). Retrieved from BFI Screen Online: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/449633/index.html
Gray, F. (2022). George Albert Smith. Retrieved from Who's Who of Victorian Cinema: https://www.victorian-cinema.net/gasmith
Groth, H. (2013). Moving Images: Nineteenth-Century Reading and Screen Practices. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Guiness Book of World Records. (2022). Earliest surviving use of double exposure in a movie. Retrieved from Guiness Book of World Records: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/107460-earliest-surviving-use-of-double-exposure-in-a-movie
Henry, H., & Impey, C. (2013). Dreams of Other Worlds: The Amazing Story of Unmanned Space Exploration. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Holmstrom, H. (2020, February 12). Pioneers of Movie Piracy and the Expansion of Copyright Law. Retrieved from National Archives: https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2020/02/12/pioneers-of-movie-piracy-and-the-expansion-of-copyright-law/
Hooper, E. S. (2009). Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, Vol. III. Retrieved from Archive.org: https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati23lees/dictionaryofnati23lees_djvu.txt
Hughes, B. (2012, September 27). Stories Behind the Discovery of the First Colour Moving Pictures. Retrieved from Science + Media Museum: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/stories-about-edward-and-edith-turner/
Hughes, B. (2012, September 12). We Have Discovered the World's First Colour Moving Pictures. Retrieved from Science + Media Museum: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/edward-raymond-turner-discovery-re-writes-history-of-early-film/
Key, F. (2014, March 22). The Demon of the Air. Retrieved from Hooting Yard: http://hootingyard.org/archives/12531
King, S. (2008, March 10). The Early Journey of a Film Wizard. Retrieved from Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-mar-10-et-weekmovie10-story.html
King, S. (2011, November 28). ‘Hugo’ revives interest in Georges Melies. Retrieved from Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-nov-28-la-et-georges-melies-20111128-story.html#:~:text=Though%20audiences'%20tastes%20changed%2C%20M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s,1913%2C%20his%20career%20was%20over
Kunitz, S., & Haycraft, H. (1942). Twentieth century authors, a biographical dictionary of modern literature. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company.
Leeder, M. (2017). The Modern Supernatural and the Beginnings of Cinema. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Librach, R. S. (2022). The Illustrated Guide to Early Cinema. Retrieved from Cinematheque Froncaise: http://cinemathequefroncaise.com
Library of Congress. (2022). Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Retrieved from Library of Congress: Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies
Light: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research. (1911). An Anti-Telepathist's 'Confession'. Light: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research, 430-431.
Macknik, S. L., & Martinez-Conde, S. (2015, November 1). How Ghostbusting Became a Victorian Pastime. Retrieved from Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-ghostbusting-became-a-victorian-pastime/
Magic Lantern Society. (2022). Illumination Used in Magic Lantern Projectors. Retrieved from Magic Lantern Society: https://www.magiclanternsociety.org/about-magic-lanterns/illumination-used/
Mandy Merck, e. (2016). The British Monarchy On Screen. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. (2022). James A. Secord. Retrieved from Max Planck Institute for the History of Science: https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/users/jsecord
McCormick, J. B. (1931). Some Legal Problems of the Motion Picture Industry. American Bar Association Journal, 316-322.
McKerman, L. (2003, June). ‘Something More than a Mere Picture Show’: Charles Urban and the Early Non-Fiction Film in Great Britain and America, 1897-1925. Retrieved from Luke McKernan: https://lukemckernan.com/htdocs/kinemacolor.pdf
McKernan, L. (2017). Biographies. Retrieved from Charles Urban: https://www.charlesurban.com/biographies.html
Middleton, J. (2019). A History of Women's Lives in Hove and Portslade. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books.
Middleton, J. (2022). Hove in the Past. Retrieved from St. Ann's Well Garden, Hove: Judy Middleton, http://hovehistory.blogspot.com/2015/04/st-anns-well-gardens-hove.html
Myers, F. W. (2022). Fragments of Inner Life (1961 reprint edition). Retrieved from Esalen: https://www.esalen.org/ctr/fragments-of-inner-life
National Cable Satellite Corporation. (2022). Heidi Holmstrom. Retrieved from C-SPAN: https://www.c-span.org/person/?110237/HeidiHolmstrom
National Media Museum. (2022). Beale's Choreutoscope, c 1890. Retrieved from Bridgeman Images: https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/noartistknown/beale-s-choreutoscope-c-1890/object/asset/5062336
Nobel Prize Outreach. (2022). Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen – Biographical. Retrieved from NobelPrize.org: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1901/rontgen/biographical/
Oppenheim, J. (1995). A Mother's Role, a Daughter's Duty: Lady Blanche Balfour, Eleanor Sidgwick, and Feminist Perspectives. Journal of British Studies, 196-232.
Pearsall, R. (1973). The Table-Rappers. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Radovančević, L. (2009). Contribution of the pioneer of hypnotherapy - Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer in the history of psychotherapy and medicine. Acta medico-historica Adriatica: AMHA, 49-60.
Rajadhyaksha, A. (1986). Neo-Traditionalism: Film as Popular Art in India. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, 20-67.
Rayner-Canham, G., & Rayner-Canham, M. (2009). Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneer British Women Chemists, 1880-1949. London: Imperial College Press.
Rhys, E. (1931). Everyman Remembers. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corp.
Robinson, D. (1993). George Melies: Father of Film Fantasy. London: British Film Institute / Museum of the Moving Image.
Robinson, D. (2002). Funny Ladies: The Comediennes of the Silent Screen. Retrieved from La Cineteca del Friuili: http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/edizione2002/Funny_Ladies.html#introduction.html
Rosen, G. (1946). Mesmerism and Surgery: A STRANGE CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF ANESTHESIA. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 527-550.
Rutgers. (2022). Maguire & Baucus. Retrieved from Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences: https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/companies/company-details/motion-pictures/maguire-baucus
Science Museum Group. (2022). George Albert Smith 1864-1959. Retrieved from Science Museum Group: Science Museum Group
Secord, J. A. (2002). Quick and Magical Shaper of Science. Science, 1648-1649.
Solomon, P. (2015). Lives of the Conjurers: Volume Two. Toronto: Top Hat Press.
Stanbury, P. (2012). Reflections of mesmerism in literature. Anaesth Intensive Care, 10-17.
Stanbury, P. (2022). peter stanbury. Retrieved from linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/peter-stanbury-31b78518
Stratford, J. (1999). Bosie and Oscar: Lord Alfred Douglas after Wilde.The Wildean, 2-15.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2022). Dadasaheb Phalke. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dadasaheb-Phalke
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2022). limelight. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/limelight-theatre-lighting
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2022). Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Rontgen
The Kodak Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford. (2022). Williamson 35mm cine camera. Retrieved from Science Museum Group: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8209464/williamson-35mm-cine-camera-cine-camera
The Regency Society. (2022). Ivy Lodge. Retrieved from The James Gray Collection: http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume12/source/jg_12_188.html
The Royal Household. (2022). Coronation. Retrieved from Official Website of the Royal Family: https://www.royal.uk/coronation
U.S. Copyright Office. (2022). The Evolution of Copyright. Retrieved from U.S. Copyright Office: https://www.copyright.gov/history/copyright-exhibit/evolution/
UK Parliament. (2022). Regulating sex and sexuality: the 20th century. Retrieved from UK Parliament: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/overview/sexuality20thcentury/
University of Brighton. (2022). Frank Gray. Retrieved from University of Brighton: https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/frank-gray
University of Chicago. (2022). Tom Gunning. Retrieved from The University of Chicago: https://arthistory.uchicago.edu/faculty/profiles/gunning
University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections. (2022). Item 592 - Letter from Eleanore O. Podmore, Edinburgh, to Anna Geddes,19 February 1905. Retrieved from University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections: https://atom.lib.strath.ac.uk/letter-from-eleanore-o-podmore-edinburgh-to-anna-geddes
University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections. (2022). Item 810 - Letter from Eleanore O. Podmore, Edinburgh, to Patrick Geddes,14 December 1907. Retrieved from University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections: https://atom.lib.strath.ac.uk/letter-from-eleanore-o-podmore-wife-of-frank-podmore-founder-member-of-fabian-society-edinburgh-to-patrick-geddes
UNSW Sydney. (2022). Professor Helen Groth. Retrieved from UNSW Sydney: https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/helen-groth
Urbanora. (2008, July 15). Colourful stories no. II - Kinemacolor in America. Retrieved from The Bioscope: https://thebioscope.net/2008/06/15/colourful-stories-no-11-kinemacolor-in-america/
Wong, K. (2016, October 28). The Science Behind the World's Most Convincing Ghost Effect. Retrieved from Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/aekye5/the-science-behind-the-worlds-most-convincing-ghost-effect
Music Sources
"And Away We Go" Jackie Gleason Show Program Promo - 1955 CBS - Library of Congress - Public Domain.
Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounad, Victor Symphony Orchestra (1922) - Library of Congress, National Jukebox - Public Domain.
Ragtime Winter Day Logo Loop by logobest - Music Standard License from AudioJungle
Rhapsody In Blue Part 1 (Menlo Park) by Paul Whiteman and George Gershwin (1924) - Internet Archive - CC BY-NC.
Comments