Image: Wikimedia Commons

Blacksmith Scene

Name: Blacksmith Scene
Director: William Kennedy Dickson
Released: 1893

1893 film directed by William Kennedy Dickson

Filmshort filmQ470705

Released: 1893
Director: William Kennedy Dickson
Cast: Charles Kayser
, John Ott
Runtime: 34 s
, 1 min
Genre: docufiction
, documentary film
, silent film
Country of origin: United States
Original language: none
Production company: Edison Studios

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Blacksmith Scene is an 1893 American short black-and-white silent film directed by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish-French inventor who, while under the employ of Thomas Edison, developed one of the first fully functional motion picture cameras. It is historically significant as the first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893, and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film. It was also the first U.S. motion picture film ever copyrighted that same year. 102 years later, in 1995, Blacksmithing Scene was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is the second-oldest film included in the Registry, after Newark Athlete (1891).

Overview

All data

43 statements · 26% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Director of photography: William Heise
1
Sources
1.fandor.com/films/blacksmithing_scene
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Title: Blacksmith Scene
Aspect ratio (W:H): 4:3
Color: black-and-white
1
Sources
1.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BlacksmithScene1893.html
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Copyright status: public domain applies to jurisdiction: United States
Assessment: Bechdel test assessment outcome: fails
1
Sources
1.Stated in Bechdel Test Movie List
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Part of: National Film Registry(since 1995)
1
Sources
1.“Complete National Film Registry Listing”loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/Retrieved 2022-10-25
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Data quality

statements

26%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 1, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Blacksmith Scene (Q470705). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/blacksmith-scene-Q470705