Thomas A. Edison Movies

With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire,...

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

An excerpt of the Shakespeare play presented in the Kinetophone sound system, in which the sound was provided by synchronized Edison cylinders.

An account of the extraordinary life of film pioneer Georges Méliès (1861-1938) and the amazing story of the copy in color of his...

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.

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done,...

This short was released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Warner Brothers' first exhibition of the Vitaphone sound-on-film process on 6...

A comic sketch that features two players who think each one is deaf, causing them to shout. Part of the Edison Kinetophone Collection. The...

By the time he died in 1931, Thomas Alva Edison was one of the most famous men in the world. The holder of more patents than any other inventor in...

Examines the life and work of the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison.

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

A political boss antagonizes his constituents when he delivers an oratory while being fed talking points from his daughter who is reading from the...

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...

A short Edison Black Maria studio film featuring famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley, known as “Little Sure Shot.” Born Phoebe Ann Oakley...

A short Edison Kinetophone film, distributed by General Film Company, representative of Edison’s early sound-film experiments. Details on plot,...

Based on eight years of continued prosperity, presidents and economists alike confidently predicted that America would soon enter a time when there...

Footage of the 1903 football game between the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan, showing uniformed players in action along with...

A Kinetophone short featuring Andrew Carnegie speaking on “The Duty of the Wealthy Man,” recorded January 20, 1914, at Edison’s...

The Edison Quartet perform songs as blacksmiths. This was one of 200 projects produced using the Edison Kinetophone system. The Kinetophone was a...