Annie Oakley

This short film is important for 2 reasons: One, because it's real footage of the legendary Annie Oakley; two, because it is the earliest known depiction of the American west. Not The Great Train Robbery (1903), not Kindnapping by Indians (1899), but this. In 1894, there were anthers like this - Bucking Bronco, Sioux Ghost Dance, - but this is the earliest. While The Great Train Robbery kickstarted the genre as a 12 minute story, this film was the beginning. However, this is just a 20 second recording. So it isn't much, but I gave it a 10 star rating because its an important part of history, and it's impressive to see someone with such good aim exploding glass orbs. It's obviously not iconic or a masterpiece, but it's a great way to spend 26 seconds, and everyone should see it.

What an interesting little piece of very early film by Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope studio. From the start, even the inventors in the communications field had savvy for marketing. What better way to tout the new motion picture camera than to show a legendary person of the time, Annie Oakley, doing what made her famous?

Another reviewer noted that Oakley appeared to miss all the glass balls tossed in the air. Indeed, this short shows most of them dropping back down and no splattering fragments from hits. I wonder if that wasn't intentional here. The guy who was tossing them was looking right at them and no more than a few feet from where they would be hit and shattered. He wasn't wearing any kind of eye protection and surely would have been pelted with glass splinters had Oakley hit any of the balls. This studio was a single room building that rotated on tracks to follow the sun. The "Black Maria," as it was called, was a very small space, which made it more dangerous for scenes of rifle shooting.

In any event, this was a successful venture for Edison's company. And Annie Oakley continued to entertain the throngs with her dead-eye shooting skills. She performed for crowds that included royalty around the world. For many years, she was a leading draw for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show that performed from 1883 to 1913. Two very good movies have been made about her. "Annie Oakley" of 1935 stars Barbara Stanwyck with a fine cast and a good portrayal of what Buffalo Bill's show must have been like. A 1950 musical comedy biography, "Annie Get Your Gun," stars Betty Hutton and Howard Keel.

For those interested in the technical development of the movies, here's how this little short film came about. Thomas Edison's phonograph, invented in 1877, became so popular that he wanted a way to put music with pictures. Of course, it would take more time to perfect that process (the late 1920s), but in 1888 Edison charged his assistant, William Dickson, with the task of creating a motion picture camera. Dickson pulled together the research and technology of British, French and American scientists and researchers, and used the new American technology of celluloid film to make the first motion picture camera.

Annie Oakley (1894)

This film from Edison is certainly of historical interest since it shows the legendary Annie Oakley performing some of her trick shots. This film clocks in at just 21-seconds but there's no question that you can't help but be highly entertained just because you get to see her in action. What's so fascinating about these old movies is that they often captured famous shows and acts on film and it's great being able to see them today. More times than not these shows are long forgotten but being able to see someone like Oakley was great fun.

As the commercial exploitation of the kinetoscope grew, filmmakers realized they needed to produce films that appealed to an audience that included middle-class women. This film was produced with this audience in mind where Oakley demonstrated her awesome marksmanship.

Great short film of what is possibly the first film featuring a firearm. Annie Oakley shows off her stuff and looks very good doing it.

10* (10* Rating System)

Her story is motivating, her skills are worthy of respect, plus she is... well, quite attractive. This short movie isn't giving her the appreciation she needs, since let's be honest: you could destroy those targets with a longer butter knife is you have one, that's how close they are to Annie. Still, very nice gunwork and steady shooting, with the camera too. So yeah, this is something you should definetly check out if you think women are only capable to do stuff in the kitchen.