The following is an overview of the events of 1891 in film, including a list of films released and notable births.

Events

William K. L. Dickson William Kennedy Laurie Dickson (3 August 1860 – 28 September 1935) was a British inventor who devised an early motion picture camera under the employment of Thomas Edison. Early life William Kennedy Dickson was born on 3 August 1860 in ...

, an assistant to

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

, supervises the construction of the first

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

, the

Black Maria Black Maria may refer to: Art and literature *Black Mariah (comics), a character in the Luke Cage comics series *List of One Piece characters#Animal Kingdom Pirates, Black Maria, a character in the manga series ''One Piece'' *Black Maria (nove ...

, in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

which produces many of the early

Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an precursors of film, early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic ...

short films of the 1890s later seen in

penny arcades A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

the following year after the studio is completed. * March –

successfully develops a working prototype of the

which moves horizontally. * May 20 – First public display of

's prototype horizontal

kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an precursors of film, early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic ...

: ''

Dickson Greeting ''Dickson Greeting'' is an 1891 American short silent film. Directed, produced by, and starring motion-picture pioneer William K. L. Dickson, it displays a 3-second clip of him passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other ...

'' is shown at Edison's Laboratory for a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs in

. * August 24 –

files for a patent for the

motion picture camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie sc ...

(which he receives in

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

Films released in 1891

*''

'', starring and directed by

. *''Duncan and Another, Blacksmith Shop'', directed by William K. L. Dickson and

William Heise William Heise (1847–1910) was a German-born American film cinematographer and director, active in the 1890s and credited for more than 175 short silent films. Heise filmed a "We All Smoke" skit promoting Admiral Cigarettes in 1897. Heise is be ...

and starring James C. Duncan. *''Duncan Smoking'', directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and starring James C. Duncan. *''Duncan or Devonald with Muslin Cloud'', directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and starring Fred C. Devonald and James C. Duncan. *'' Men Boxing'', directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise. *''Monkey and Another, Boxing'', directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise. *''

Newark Athlete ''Newark Athlete'' is an 1891 American short silent film directed and produced by William Kennedy Dickson. The film, roughly ten seconds in length, displays a young athlete swinging Indian clubs. It was filmed in May or June 1891, in the Photogra ...

'', directed by William K. L. Dickson. *''Je vous aime'', starring and directed by

Georges Demenÿ Georges Demenÿ (12 June 1850 in Douai – 26 October 1917 in Paris) was a French inventor, chronophotographer, filmmaker, gymnast and physical fitness enthusiast. Main publications *''L’Éducation physique en Suède'', Paris, Société d'� ...

. *''La vague'', directed by

Étienne-Jules Marey Étienne-Jules Marey (; 5 March 1830, Beaune, Côte-d'Or – 15 May 1904, Paris) was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer. His work was significant in the development of cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation, cinema ...

. *''Two Fencers'', directed by Étienne-Jules Marey.

Births

External links

1891
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219182655/http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Years/1891/ , date=2009-02-19 at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Film by year Articles containing video clips fr:Avant 1895 au cinéma