Electrocuting to Elephant
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Electrocuting to Elephant |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1903 |
| length | 1 minute |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jacob Blair Smith or Edwin S. Porter |
| occupation | |
| |
Electrocuting an Elephant is a documentary film made by Jacob Blair Smith or Edwin S. Porter and showing the execution of the circus elephant Topsy . The film was shot on January 4, 1903 and released by the Edison Manufacturing Company on January 12, 1903 .
Movie content
The former circus elephant Topsy is taken to a place to die of electrocution . In the film, three men can be seen accompanying the animal. Then electricity is passed through the animal's body.
background
The elephant killed three men between 1900 and 1901. One of the victims was one of his guards, who is reported to have tormented the animal with lighted cigarette butts. After Topsy's last carer, Frederick Ault, led her from Luna Park to the city while drunk , her fate was sealed. She was supposed to die by hanging, but animal rights activists could get Topsy a different way of death, and so she died from the electrocution carried out by the New York Edison Company on behalf of the animal owners. In 1903 the company was no longer owned by Thomas A. Edison .
The Edison Studios filmed the event for their Kinetoskopgeschäft. While the film is being shot, people keep walking through the picture. This can be explained by the fact that around 1,500 onlookers attended the killing.
The film was later reused for several entertainment programs such as Mr. Mike's Mondo Video and for the video game Assassin's Creed II .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Museum of Modern Art archives the kintetoscope films produced by Edison companies and has re-released them on DVD. In the accompanying material, Jacob Blair Smith or Edwin S. Porter are named as "film-makers" for the film Electrocuting to Elephant . Porter ran the small studio in Manhattan. MoMA: Edison, Film Notes DVD ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 143 kB), accessed December 27, 2008
Web links
- Electrocuting an Elephant in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Film on Youtube