Leonard-Cushing Fight
| Leonard-Cushing Fight | |
|---|---|
 An advertisment for the Leonard-Cushing Fight, a 1894 black-and-white silent film, featuring a boxing match. | |
| Produced by | William K.L. Dickson |
| Starring | Mike Leonard Jack Cushing |
| Cinematography | William Heise |
| Distributed by | Edison Manufacturing Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | ~6 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
The Leonard-Cushing Fight is an 1894 American short black-and-white silent film produced by William K.L. Dickson, starring Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing. Leonard and Cushing participate in a six round boxing match under special conditions that allow for it to be filmed and displayed on a Kinetograph. Premiered on August 4, 1894 in New York City, the movie is the first sports film ever released. As of 2021, no full print of the film is known to have survived, making it a partially lost film.
Plot
The boxers Mike Leonard and Jake Cushing participate in a six round exhibition boxing bout. Leonard knocks Cushing out in the sixth round.
Cast
- Mike Leonard
- Jack Cushing
Background and production
In 1888, Thomas Edison became interested in developing a motion-picture device.[1] Edison appointed his companys photographer William K.L. Dickson with the development of such a device. Dickson, alongside his assistant Charles Brown started to work on different concepts the following year. Alongside William Heise, the company experimented with recording boxing bouts in spring 1891.[1] Twelve feet of film were shot either in May or June 1891, featuring two of Edison Manufacturing Company employees, pretending to spar in a boxing ring.[2] In a May 1891 interview with The Sun Edison announced his desire to display prize fights through his Kinetescope; "To the sporting fraternity I can say that before that before long it will be possible to apply this system to prize fights and boxing exhibitions."[3][4] Ten rounds were recorded on June 14, 1894 inside a ten-foot ring, in Edison's Black Maria film studio. Of the ten rounds, six were chosen for the full film.[4]
Release and legacy
The film premiered on August 4, 1894.[5] On April 2, 1895, the Continental Commerce Company premiered the film in London's 70 Oxford Street.[6]
The state of New Jersey outlawed prize fights in 1835. According to an article published in The Sun on June 16, 1894, New Jersey's grand jury investigated a potential prize fight in Edison's studio.[7] However, no record of the investigation exists.[8]
As of 2021, a 37-second clip of the movie exists, available at the Library of Congress.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Gamache 2010, p. 21.
- ^ Streible 2008, p. 23-24.
- ^ "The Kinetograph". The Sun. New York City. May 28, 1891. pp. 1–2. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ a b Vogan 2021, p. 10.
- ^ Hawley, Samuel (March 27, 2017). "The Birth of the Feature Film – 120 Years Ago: The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (1897)". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Brown, Anthony 2018, p. 22.
- ^ "Kinetographing a Fight". The Sun. New York City. June 16, 1891. p. 7. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- ^ Orbach 2009, p. 257.
- ^ "Leonard-Cushing fight". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
References
Articles
- Ramsaye, Terry (April 1922). "The Romantic History of the Motion Picture". Photoplay. Macfadden Publications. pp. 20–23 (406–409). Retrieved January 2, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
Books
- Streible, Dan (April 11, 2008). Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and Early Cinema. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520250758.
- Vogan, Travis (October 16, 2020). The Boxing Film. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1978801370.
- Brown, Richard; Anthony, Barry (2017). The Kinetoscope: A British History. John Libbey Publishing. ISBN 978-0861967308.
- Gamache, Ray (2010). A History of Sports Highlights Replayed Plays from Edison to ESPN. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4997-2.
Journals
- Orbach, Barack (March 2, 2009). "Prizefighting and the Birth of Movie Censorship". Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities. 21: 55. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
External links
- 1894 films
- American boxing films
- American silent short films
- American black-and-white films
- Documentary films about boxing
- Films directed by William Kennedy Dickson
- Films shot in New Jersey
- Thomas Edison
- Edison Manufacturing Company films
- 1890s sports films
- 1890s short documentary films
- American short documentary films
- 1890s American films