''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 under the name of the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by scientist / inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas A. Edison (1847–1 ...

, it is the earliest known

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

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

Plot

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), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

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 (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

'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 ...

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

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

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 a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

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 1901 films 1901 comedy films 1901 short films 1900s American films 1900s English-language films American black-and-white films American satirical films Articles containing video clips Edison Manufacturing Company films English-language comedy short films Films about Theodore Roosevelt Films directed by Edwin S. Porter Silent American comedy short films Surviving American silent films {{1900s-US-film-stub

Plot

Background

See also

References

External links