''Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King'' is a 1901 American silent film directed by

Edwin S. Porter Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Of over ...

. Produced by the

Edison Manufacturing Company The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison and incorporated in New York City in May 188 ...

, it is the earliest known

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

in American film. It features three actors, all of whom are unknown.

Plot

Lasting just 61 seconds and consisting of two shots, the first shot is set in a wood during winter. The actor representing then vice-president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

enthusiastically hurries down a hillside towards a tree in the foreground. He falls once, but rights himself and cocks his rifle. Two other men, bearing signs reading "His Photographer" and "His Press Agent" respectively, follow him into the shot; the photographer sets up his camera. "Teddy" aims his rifle upward at the tree and fells what appears to be a common house cat, which he then proceeds to stab. "Teddy" holds his prize aloft, and the press agent takes notes. The second shot is taken in a slightly different part of the wood, on a path. "Teddy" rides the path on his horse towards the camera and out to the left of the shot, followed closely by the press agent and photographer, still dutifully holding their signs.

Background

''Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King'' was inspired by political cartoons that originally ran in

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

's ''

New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

''. These cartoons depicted Roosevelt as a macho hunting enthusiast with a strong taste for publicity, killing a

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

while the press took in the event. The film is based on 1901 ''New York Journal'' comics panels that ran on February 4 (first shot) and 18th (second shot) very closely. As the Edison Company filed a copyright for the finished film on February 23, ''Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King'' must have been made very quickly indeed. A paper print (LC 1887) was filed with the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

at the time of copyright; it was later rephotographed to flexible film in order to preserve the subject.

References

External links

''Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King''
at the American Memory Site of the Library of Congress
''Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King''
at IMDb American silent short films 1901 films American satirical films Films about Theodore Roosevelt American black-and-white films Films directed by Edwin S. Porter 1901 comedy films 1901 short films Silent American comedy films American comedy short films 1900s American films {{1900s-short-comedy-film-stub