Parsifal

This was the first film made on an Arthurian subject, I'm posting this entry from the Camelot Projects Filmography: Parsifal (1904).

United States; dir. Edwin J. Porter; Edison.

Cast: Adelaide Fitz-Allen and Robert Whittier.

Using a highly exaggerated style of acting, interspersed with trick camera effects, a group of actors present the following scenes from Wagner's opera: Parsifal Ascends the Throne, Ruins of A Magic Garden, Exterior of Klingson's Castle, Magic Garden, Interior of the Temple, Scene Outside the Temple, Return of Parsifal, and In the Woods. With this film, Edison had hoped to capitalize on the success of the 1903 stage production of the opera in New York, but the film's run had to be shortened when the owner of the copyright successfully sued Edison for using the script without permission.

Review:

Optical Lantern and Cinematograph Journal 1 (1905): 52.