Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze
Reviewed by Edward Larsen Terkelsen

USA, NR, 5 s, 1894
Directed by William K.L. Dickson. Stars Fred Ott.

For being only 80 frames (or 5 seconds at 16 fps) long, Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze boasts an awful lot of filmic firsts. Not only was it the earliest movie to depict a sneeze (human or otherwise), it was the first to use a close-up, the first to be submitted for copyright, and the first to turn its performer into a star. And if all that isn’t enough to justify its protection by the Library of Congress, it was made at the world’s premier dream factory, the Black Maria, which was founded by the extraordinarily prolific Thomas Edison. (Since early pictures required an abundance of light to reach even a minimal exposure, Edison outfitted the studio with a retractable roof, as well as a pivot, allowing the somewhat unsightly, tar-papered construction to trail the sun.) Originally put out in 1894, the clip (which was photographed by William Heise and directed by William K.L. Dickson) couldn’t be less fussy: Fred Ott, who was Edison’s assistant, takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. That’s it. Show’s over. Cue the stammering swine. We don’t even have time to tell Mr. Ott “gesundheit” before he flickers away, his ugly, Geraldo Rivera-style mustache still glazed with snot. 

Record of a Sneeze debuted in Edison’s Kinetoscope parlors, where customers would pay a nickel to peer into a cabinet and watch tiny moving images of a picnic or a cockfight or a Sioux Indian Ghost Dance. Truth be told, Edison and company hadn’t set out for Record of a Sneeze to be exhibited in this manner; it was meant to be a photo spread in Harper’s Weekly. The magazine did make mention of the movie version, though, when it was put on view in some location or another, singling out for praise an accompanying “as-shew.” (Of course, the sound of the sneeze wasn’t contained on the filmstrip itself, but rather a phonograph cylinder.) I doubt Record of a Sneeze will impress contemporary audiences lining up for the newest FX-laden atrocity, but its historical value is nothing to sneeze at. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk! 

July 8, 2011 

© Copyright 2011 by Edward Larsen Terkelsen. All rights reserved.