Move On (1903)
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Film Notes
Move On (1903)
Production Co.: Edison Mfg. Co. Director/Photographer: Alfred C. Abadie. Transfer Note: Copied at 18 frames per second from a 35mm negative preserved by the Library of Congress. New Music: Martin Marks. Running Time: 75 seconds
The more than three thousand films in the Library of Congress’s Paper Print Collection, made between 1894 and 1915, now provide the fullest surviving view of the origins of American filmmaking. Their existence arose from a lucky quirk of copyright law and their preservation from early archival foresight.
Before 1912, U.S. copyright law made no provision for motion pictures, but for a fifty-cent fee one could copyright a still photograph. It was the Edison company, always vigilant in legal matters, that in 1894 hit upon the curious idea of copyrighting a “photograph” thirty-five millimeters wide and many feet long: rolls of photographic paper that documented its movies frame by frame. A few other companies, notably Biograph, followed Edison’s example over the next twenty years.
These legal records gathered dust in the Library of Congress basement until the late 1940s, when a former LC employee championed their value to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which began to fund experiments in copying the paper back onto film. Examples convinced Congress to continue funding the project, which was completed in 16mm by the early 1960s. Thus, while most of the fragile and flammable films from the turn of the century were discarded or deteriorating, these prints on paper survived to become our key record of early American filmmaking—from short actualities through early multi-reel features. The unexpected result is that pre-1912 American filmmaking survives more fully than that of the later teens.
As with many early actualities, it is difficult to say how much of Move On is document and how much was staged for the camera—probably a little of both. Although we treasure the film now for capturing so evocatively the commercial street life of Lower Manhattan in fall 1903, the film was marketed by Edison for its reputedly comic drama of watching police hustle along what we’re told are the Jewish or Italian immigrant pushcart vendors: “It is interesting and amusing to see the expressions of combined fear and anxiety on the faces of the men as they hurry away; the fear of being arrested if they stand, and of losing some of the wares if the carts strike an obstruction in the street. Very fine photographically.” —Scott Simmon
About the Music
For such a brief, one-shot film, a single piece is perfectly sufficient—but what kind? A popular song? A folk song? A dance? Each one of these styles could work, but I chose a classical piece: the third in Schubert’s beloved Moments Musicaux, op. 94. One reason is that the piece has a persistent clip-clop rhythm that seems to “move” with the world on-screen. Furthermore, the music’s rather folklike style, as well as its “Schubertian” mixture of pathos and humor, seemed just right for this seriocomic slice of life. —Martin Marks
About the Preservation
Over the last few years, the Library of Congress has mounted a long-term project to rephotograph the paper prints in their original 35mm format. It’s a labor-intensive process in large part because the paper has no sprocket holes and thus each frame must be individually aligned. The new preservation copies are not merely an aesthetic enhancement; in films from this era before widespread close-ups, it becomes possible to see details long obscured. Especially for those who have seen the films only in 16mm, the new preservation copies are a revelation.
Further Information and Viewing
A descriptive catalog of the complete Paper Print Collection is published as Early Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress, edited by Kemp Niver (Library of Congress, 1985). Many paper prints, including more than three hundred Edison films, are available for downloading or streaming from the Library of Congress’s website. Also featured on the NFPF website are Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901) and Dog Factory (1904).