Commercial motion pictures were invented at the Edison Laboratory between 1888 and 1893. Perhaps none of the component parts were strictly new, but the ability of Edison and his staff to reorganize them for a specific purpose was an extraordinary cultural achievement. In 1894, Edison was the sole producer of motion pictures in the world. Many Edison films continue to be impressive as the company employed such accomplished early directors as John Collins and Alan Crosland.

Region 1, full screen (1.33:1) presentation; Dolby Digital. Contains all 140 complete films produced by the Edison Company between 1889-1918. Special features: All films are restored and newly mastered, with all new musical scores; over 200 scans - including stills, script fragments, interoffice memos, and promotions; film by film program notes.

[v. 1.]1889-1903. -- Monkeyshines, no. 1 -- Monkeyshines, no. 2 -- Dickson greeting -- Newark athlete (with Indian clubs) -- Men boxing -- Blacksmithing scene -- The barber shop -- Edison kinetoscopic record of a sneeze, January 7, 1894 -- Athlete with wand -- Sandow -- Carmencita -- The boxing cats (Prof. Welton's) -- Caicedo with pole -- Annabelle butterfly dance -- Cockfight, no. 2 -- Corbett and Courtney before the kinetograph -- Sioux ghost dance -- Buffalo dance -- Hadj Cheriff -- Glenroy bros., no. 2 -- Louis Martinetti -- Bucking broncho -- Annie Oakley -- Imperial Japanese dance -- Robetta and Doretto, no. 2 -- Band drill -- Fire rescue scene -- Billy Edwards and the unknown -- Dickson experimental sound film -- Princess Ali -- Annabelle serpentine dance -- The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots -- Amy Muller -- The John C. Rice-May Irwin kiss -- Shooting the chutes -- Fatima, muscle dancer -- Mess call -- Inventor Edison sketched by world artist -- Watermelon eating contest -- The lone fisherman -- Interrupted lovers -- Feeding the doves -- A morning bath -- The burning stable -- Mounted police charge -- Going to the fire -- A morning alarm -- Black Diamond Express, no. 1 -- American Falls from above, American side -- The first sleigh ride -- The morning alarm -- Fifth Avenue, New York -- Mr. Edison at work in his chemical laboratory -- Return of lifeboat -- Troop ships for the Philippines -- U.S. troops landing at Daiquiri, Cuba -- Shooting captured insurgents -- The burglar on the roof -- Firemen rescuing men and women -- A wringing good joke -- Gold rush scenes in the Klondike -- Searching on Broadway for dead bodies, Galveston -- The kiss -- Capture of Boer battery by British -- New Black Diamond Express -- Watermelon contest -- A storm at sea -- Old maid having her picture taken -- (1 min.) -- Another job for the undertaker -- (2 min.) -- High diving scene -- (1 min.) -- Photographing a country couple -- (1 min.) -- What happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City -- (1 min., 30 sec.) -- Pan-American Exposition by night -- (1 min.) -- Trapeze disrobing act -- (2 min.) -- The burning of Durland's Riding Academy -- (3 min., 30 sec.) -- Burlesque suicide, no. 2 -- (2 min.) -- Jack and the beanstalk -- (10 min.) -- Interrupted bathers -- (1 min.) -- Electrocuting an elephant -- (1 min., 30 sec.) -- The life of an American fireman -- (7 min.) -- Egyptian fakir with dancing monkey -- (1 min., 30 sec.) -- A scrap in black and white -- (1 min.) -- Uncle Tom's cabin -- (19 min.) -- The gay shoe clerk -- (1 min.) -- Turning the tables -- (1 min.) -- What happened in the tunnel -- (1 min.) -- The great train robbery -- (12 min.) -- Rector's to Claremont -- (3 min.). [v. 2.] 1904-1907. -- European rest cure -- (14 min.) -- How a French nobleman got a wife through the New York Herald personal columns -- (9 min.) -- Nervy Nat kisses the bride -- (2 min.) -- The scarecrow pump -- (1 min.) -- The strenuous life, or, anti-race suicide -- (5 min.) -- The ex-convict -- (9 min.) -- The kleptomaniac -- (10 min.) -- The seven ages -- (5 min.) -- The whole Dam family and the Dam dog -- (5 min.) -- Coney Island at night -- (4 min.) -- The little train robbery -- (10 min.) -- The white caps -- (12 min.) -- The watermelon patch -- (11 min.) -- The miller's daughter -- (13 min.) -- The train wreckers -- (11 min.) -- Life of an American policeman -- (14 min.) -- Police chasing scorching auto -- (3 min.) -- The dream of a rarebit fiend -- (6 min.) -- Three American beauties -- (1 min.) -- Films of the San Francisco earthquake -- (2 min.) -- The terrible kids -- (7 min.) -- Kathleen Mavourneen -- (15 min.) -- Getting evidence -- (14 min.) -- The "Teddy" bears -- (14 min.). [v. 3.] 1907-1913. -- Cohen's fire sale -- (13 min.) -- The rivals -- (12 min.) -- College chums -- (11 min.) -- The trainer's daughter or a race for love -- (14 min.) -- Laughing gas -- (9 min.) -- A little girl who did not believe in Santa Claus -- (14 min.) -- A suburbanite's ingenious alarm -- (7 min.) -- Rescued from an eagle's nest -- (7 min.) -- Fireside reminiscences -- (8 min.) -- Cupid's pranks -- (10 min.) -- Tale the autumn leaves told (fragment) -- (1 min., 30 sec.) -- The House of Cards -- (16 min.) -- New York of today (German exhibition print with optional English subtitles) -- (7 min.) -- How Bumptious papered the parlor -- (4 min.) -- Thirty days of hard labor -- (16 min.) -- The passer-by -- (17 min.) -- The Totville Eye -- (14 min.) -- The public and private care of infants -- (14 min.) -- An unsullied shield -- (17 min.). [v. 4.] 1913-1918. -- At Bear Track Gulch -- (14 min.) -- The ambassador's daughter -- (14 min.) -- A serenade by Proxy -- (14 min.) -- All on account of a transfer -- (11 min.) -- One touch of nature -- (16 min.) -- The adventure of the hasty elopement -- (15 min.) -- The wonders of magnetism -- (8 min.) -- Black eyes -- (15 min.) -- The lone game -- (16 min.) -- The unbeliever -- (85 min.).