There have been known to be various genres of film subjects from the silent era that were often copied or changed slightly in one way or another. The Serpentine Dance movies were often remade over and over again because of the negatives wearing out over time (not to mention everyone loved the beautiful color painting that was frequently accomplished on such films); the poultry-yard scenes were copied by other filmmakers because of they proved to be well received by audiences; and the boxing movies were done over and over again because, quite frankly, they were popular due to the controversy of the subject matter. It is the latter genre that I shall be discussing here.
First of all, let's face it: Edison was the dirtiest motion picture company in the United States of America--not to mention also being the first. Their films, with content ranging from animal cruelty to belly-dancing, were quite often frowned upon. We've got scenes of Eugene Sandow standing in underwear (well, not actual underwear), we've got Annabelle Moore showing her ankles and legs, and we've got half-naked men like Corbett and Courtney boxing with eachother. Boxing was very much looked down upon back all those years ago, was even censored in certain states: and it was Edison alone who publicized the sport with this very film.
From the start, "Men Boxing" was obviously not meant to be offensive. Back in 1891, Edison's motion picture business hadn't even taken off yet, and all of their films from 1890 to 1892 were merely camera experiments intended to test the invention. These men shown to be boxing (likely employees of the Edison Co.) are quite clearly amateurs doing a mock imitation. Being taken in the Black Maria Studio, the ring is fake; the 'boxer's' clothing is not realistic to what would've been used in the sport at that time. And yet it is these three seconds that started the boxing genre which would follow.
Like the other experiments from 1891, the lens filming the scene is circular and not square, making you feel as though you're watching it through a telescope. While it's true the first masked POV shots by George Albert Smith were made much later, this film should get credit for innovating a circular view of the action. I doubt you could really discredit Smith for being the first to do masking, however, since it probably couldn't have been helped that the view was taken this way.
Edison himself would also continue to craft the boxing genre as he went along, creating movies of actual boxers performing true feats of skill. This would ultimately result in the world's first feature length movie by Enoch Rector of the Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight from 1897, distributed by Veriscope. Still, at the moment they were continuing to experiment, as the first publicly-released film in the United States would not happen until "Horse Shoeing" of 1893.
First of all, let's face it: Edison was the dirtiest motion picture company in the United States of America--not to mention also being the first. Their films, with content ranging from animal cruelty to belly-dancing, were quite often frowned upon. We've got scenes of Eugene Sandow standing in underwear (well, not actual underwear), we've got Annabelle Moore showing her ankles and legs, and we've got half-naked men like Corbett and Courtney boxing with eachother. Boxing was very much looked down upon back all those years ago, was even censored in certain states: and it was Edison alone who publicized the sport with this very film.
From the start, "Men Boxing" was obviously not meant to be offensive. Back in 1891, Edison's motion picture business hadn't even taken off yet, and all of their films from 1890 to 1892 were merely camera experiments intended to test the invention. These men shown to be boxing (likely employees of the Edison Co.) are quite clearly amateurs doing a mock imitation. Being taken in the Black Maria Studio, the ring is fake; the 'boxer's' clothing is not realistic to what would've been used in the sport at that time. And yet it is these three seconds that started the boxing genre which would follow.
Like the other experiments from 1891, the lens filming the scene is circular and not square, making you feel as though you're watching it through a telescope. While it's true the first masked POV shots by George Albert Smith were made much later, this film should get credit for innovating a circular view of the action. I doubt you could really discredit Smith for being the first to do masking, however, since it probably couldn't have been helped that the view was taken this way.
Edison himself would also continue to craft the boxing genre as he went along, creating movies of actual boxers performing true feats of skill. This would ultimately result in the world's first feature length movie by Enoch Rector of the Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight from 1897, distributed by Veriscope. Still, at the moment they were continuing to experiment, as the first publicly-released film in the United States would not happen until "Horse Shoeing" of 1893.