Silent Films of the 1890s Trivia Quiz

Answer: London, UK

The film shows traffic passing by Trafalgar Square in London. This is a lost film--what we have left are ten stills from the film. As the scene was filmed at about 10 frames a second, the stills have been edited into a one second film. Croft and Wordsworth used a škinesigraph" camera to shoot the footage. Crofts (1846-1894) and Donisthorpe (1846-1914) were cousins.

The picture shows an image of a double decker vehicle. London is known for its double decker buses. I considered making this vehicle red as many in London are.
While motorized busses did not run in London in 1890, there appears to be at least one double decker carriage seen in the film stills.

Answer: Boxing

"Men Boxing" runs for about five seconds and was shot at the Edison Laboratory Photographic Building. Given the film capabilities at the time, boxing probably was a good choice as a camera set in one location could film the two men while they were relatively close to each other. The other sports would have required much more movement of the camera. William K. Dickson (1860-1935) and William Heise (1847-1910) were the two Edison employees who filmed the scene. The footage was shot on an Edison kinetoscope. The two men who wore boxing gloves and pretended to spar are not identified.

The clenched fist in the picture hopefully suggested fighting or boxing.

Answer: It is one of the first animated films.

Charles-Emile Reynaud (1844-1918) created some of the earliest animated films on the praxinoscope. Running about 15 minutes, šUn bon bock" runs about 15 minutes and consists of about 700 frames all hand drawn and hand colored by Reynaud. The film would be moved back and forth in aid of telling the story. The film shows a visitor to a tavern who gets a glass of beer from a waitress. While he is distracted by flirting with the waitress, a boy comes in the room from the kitchen and drinks the beer.

The picture shows a piece of paper with a simple drawing on it and a pencil, suggesting Reynaud's efforts.

Answer: Blacksmiths

William Dickson filmed and directed "Blacksmith Scene" which ran for about 34 seconds. It is one of the oldest films included in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Unnamed Edison employees stand around a large anvil. The "blacksmith" uses tongs to hold a hot piece of metal while he and the strikers hammer it. One man pulls out a bottle of beer and the three men share it. The scene was filmed in the "Black Maria" studio on the grounds of Edison's laboratory.

The picture shows a hammer or striker that a blacksmith might use and a flame that the blacksmith might use to heat a piece of metal.

Answer: Sneezing

The two films were "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze" (a.k.a. Fred Ott's Sneeze) and "Fred Ott Holding a Bird". Both were filmed in 1894. Fred Ott (1860-1936) was a long-time employee of Edison who retired from the company after Edison's death in 1931. In the "sneeze" film (about five seconds long), Ott takes a pinch of snuff, which causes him to sneeze.

The picture shows a stick figure with an exaggerated nose hopefully leading you to sneezing.

Answer: Her Execution

"The Execution of Mary Stuart" runs about 18 seconds and was directed by Alfred Clark. This may be one of the first films to use trained actors. Mary is actually played by male actor Robert L. Thomas. In the film, the blindfolded Mary is brought into a room and is placed on the chopping block. By use of a stop cut, the actor is replaced by a similarly-dressed mannequin whose head is cut off.

The picture shows a blank tombstone with a tuft of grass near it.

Answer: The Devil

"The Haunted Castle" was the title used for the film in the United States. In Britain, it was called "The Devil's Castle" and in France, where it was filmed, it was called "Le Manoir du diable" or "The House of the Devil". Georges Melies (1861-1938) was a French film pioneer who would later direct "A Trip to the Moon"(1902) and "The Impossible Voyage" (1904). Because it is a bat that transforms into the Devil, some people consider this the first vampire movie. The three minute film inspires more wonder than terror as several other characters appear including an assistant to the devil, a woman drawn from a cauldron, and two cavaliers.

The picture shows a pitchfork that a devil might use.

Answer: A Boxing Match

Enoch Rector (1863-1957) was a boxing promoter in addition to a film pioneer. The fight shown was between professional boxers James Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons and took place on March 17, 1897, in Carson City, NV. Although the original film was 100 minutes long, only small sections of the film still remain. This was one of the first films shot in widescreen. The original footage included time before and after the match as well as between rounds.

The picture is a bit of a visual pun with a "round" circle and the number 15 represent "Round 15", which would be part of a boxing match.

Answer: Art Show

In the first scene, an older couple is eating lunch outside of the art show and in the second scene, they are inside the show. At the show, the husband is interested in a nude statute, which annoys his wife. The full film was about one minute in length but less than two thirds remains. The portion inside of the show only remains as film stills. Robert Paul (1869-1943), a British film pioneer, was the director.

The picture shows an easel with canvas and paints that an artist might use.

Answer: The Life and Death of King John

This version of "King John" was extremely abridged--running at about five minutes, it was rather four distinct scenes. The actors in the scenes were from the cast of a stage version of the play which was performed in London that same fall. Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852-1917) who appears in the scenes as King John was better known as a stage actor.

The picture shows a scroll with the words "Great Charter", which in the original Latin was "Magna Carta", issued during the reign of King John.