William Heise Movies

“The watchful father disturbs a dream of bliss, and the bucolic lover is taught a lesson. He made a great hit.” (Edison film catalog)

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United...

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.

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.

The Leigh Sisters perform a risqué Trilby-inspired dance with an umbrella. Scene from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes a group of people and compels them to perform various humorous acts in a Trilby segment from David...

One of the pictures to be seen in the machine, for example, was that of a blacksmith shop in which two men were working, one shoeing a horse, the...

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

A fellow in a wide-brimmed hat, with a willowy stick for a rod and a baited hook, sits down on a plank hanging over a bridge above a stream. He...

The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes two characters, then dies abruptly in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr. burlesque. Lost.

Lee Martin, one of the cowboy stars in 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West', rides a bronco as a crowd looks on. While the horse is trying to throw Martin off...

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the...

The famous army scout in an exhibition of rifle shooting. A fine picture of the principal, and beautiful smoke effects.

From Edison films catalog: A long line of horses, mules and ponies are led, driven and ridden into the yards, where they are sold and distributed.

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

A woman in a white gown performs a skirt dance, using her arms to produce circles and other patterns within the folds of her costume. Her legs and...

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what...

A vaudeville routine: two denizens of the Bowery dance while under the influence. She's wearing a light dress with a full skirt. He wears a white...

“A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the...