Dickson Greeting

Starring: William K.L. Dickson
Directed by: William K.L. Dickson
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Documentary, Silent
Length: 3 seconds
1891

Times Seen:
Tim: 6

Summary: A man passes a hat from one hand to the other.

Review:

Tim: Dickson Greeting is an early American documentary short, one of the first tests of motion picture technology in the United States. It was filmed at Thomas Edison's studios, and it's pretty basic- a man (William K.L. Dickson) is standing in front of the camera, holding a hat. He's dressed well- shirt, tie, vest. Holding the hat in his right hand, he passes it over to his left. It's a mostly unremarkable test of this new technology. As the hat moves from his right to left, he pulls his left hand towards the hat, as if preparing to accept it.

I do love (in some ways) these early films. This one is pretty boring, but it shows how Dickson and others were working through the technical challenges of this newfound technology. The Americans were definitely behind the Europeans at this stage of motion pictures. However, this does present a huge step forward, from the Monkeyshines films (also directed by William K.L. Dickson). Even the second film was still pretty blurry, a technical step forward, but still existing in a frustrating stage. Dickson's Greeting is the clearest film yet from the Edison studio. You can see the technology improving. Audiences of the day would have undoubtedly been impressed by seeing pictures move, even if the subject wasn't doing much of interest.

I certainly wouldn't recommend this film except for the true movie aficionados. However, those interested in the birth of cinema would do well to see this film, especially in comparison to the other Edison studio movies. The Americans weren't first, but they were working hard to catch up.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Monkeyshines, No. 1; Monkeyshines, No. 2