William Heise Movies

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

In a long, diaphanous skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended, Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore performs. Her dance emphasizes the movement of...

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...

In the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters...

“A file of Spanish soldiers line up the Cubans against a blank wall and fire a volley. The flash of rifles and drifting smoke make a very...

Annie Oakley was probably the most famous marksman/woman in the world when this short clip was produced in Edison's Black Maria studio in West...

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes a group of people and compels them to perform various humorous acts in a Trilby segment from David...

"Firemen in working uniform, rubber coats, helmets, and boots. Thrilling rescue from burning building. Smoke effects are fine." - from the Edison...

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes two characters, then dies abruptly in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

The Leigh Sisters perform a risqué Trilby-inspired dance with an umbrella. Scene from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's circus, performs an Egyptian dance in the Edison Company's studio. As she dances, some musicians perform in the...

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.

The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete".

Early Edison short showing two men fencing.

“Interior of Barber Shop. Man comes in, takes off his coat; sits down, smokes; is handed a paper by attendant, who points out a joke; both...

Eugen Sandow, who claims to be the strongest man in the world, appears in the Edison Company's film studio.

Vaudeville dancer Amy Muller performs a portion of her stage routine, which features dancing on her toes. She dances on one toe for part of the...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete", which depicts a boxer with a...

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.