American still photographer, turned cinematographer and early filmmaker Alfred Camille Abadie (most frequently credited as A. C. Abadie) was born on this day in New York City. Though Abadie was himself an important early filmmaker--who is currently under-appreciated for his work (as of last year, that is starting to change)--the most famous film he is associated with is one in which he acted. He was part of the large, but completely uncredited, cast of the really famous Edison film The Great Train Robbery, released in 1903 for actual cinema screenings (a late turn for the Edison company away from parlor film). He is listed as playing the role of sheriff; in the film the longest time duration of his role occurs during the dance hall section. Despite that the film is often cited as the very first narrative film (it's not, but to his credit, director Edwin S. Porter was one of the very first to conceive of films in a narrative style that would have need of what later became the screenplay), it is not exactly a great example of character development--so making Abadie out as the sheriff is not easy. The film was a "first" in one way though--due to it's wild popularity, it could credibly be called the very first "blockbuster." But it was not Adabie first film association. Abadie was hired in the film department of Edison manufacturing in 1898 as an assistant. He was a young photographer by trade and his work at the lab was mostly as a camera assistant to Edison filmmaker James H. White. It is probable that Abadie worked on, and deserves credit for, films produced before the turn of the century. White was responsible for hundreds of Edison productions, most documentary in nature and many dating from around the time that Abadie went to work with him. Actually, it is improbable to think that he wasn't the production assistant responsible for shooting at least a few of these. But...the first film that we know for certain that he had involvement with came in 1901 when he appeared in the "staged documentary" What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City, another Edwin S. Porter film. In another first, this was a staged performance that presented itself as a street actuality, but was instead a little comedy featuring Abadie and actress Florence Georgie having her skirt blown up (eat your heart out Marilyn Monroe). Not only have both of the films in which he acted survived, they have both been restored and transferred to disc. What Abadie as a filmmaker specialized in were real actualities--documentary subjects--filmed for Edison both abroad and domestically. As a crafter of films himself, he had a couple of film firsts to his name as well. One of these was his shooting of the 1903 film Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island; it was chosen in 2019 by the Library of Congress to go on their annual list of 25 films recommended for preservation due to being found "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." The film was the very first to capture a ferryboat loaded with immigrant passengers docking at Ellis Island with passenger disembarkation. Many years later, in 1917, he was deeply involved in the production of the film Birth, which is thought to be the first film of an actual birth of a baby in history (though, I am not sure about the reasons for the making of this film, as it's production company is listed as the "Eugenic Film Company," and that is, I'm sorry, disturbing!). The vast majority of his recorded film career however was during the years 1903 and 1904 under employment with the Edison behemoth. Edison sent him abroad in 1903 to record exotic actualities for the company to show at the screenings of larger, more expensive productions made by the studio. Principally he made these little films in north Africa and parts of the Middle East, especially The Holy Land--though he also traveled and filmed through parts of Europe. The first of these appears to be Market Scene in Cairo, Egypt (1903). Another typical example of one of these films is A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem (1903). He even made a film of his passage between continents with Crossing the Atlantic (1903). Back in New York, he shot little documentaries on his own and worked with other well known Edison studio names, such as Edwin S. Porter on Razzle Dazzle (1903), or his own in the staged comic dainty Policeman's Prank on Their Comrade (1903). He also made a number of films of the aftermath of the fire the leveled downtown Baltimore in February of 1904. One of his last films for Edison was shot in Bliss, Oklahoma: Herding Horses Across a River in the later part of 1904. Some time after this he left Edison's employ and continued to work as a photographer; he also continued to make independent films, becoming one of the first (if not the very first) filmmaker to produce both educational and industrial instruction films (a catalog of which does not appear to be easily found). The above mentioned film Birth is the only example of films that we currently have from this part of his career. The film was shot a New York City hospital, so he was evidently still living in the city at that point. At some point later in his life, he went to California. He died in San Francisco at the age of 71 on New Year's Day in 1951. He was buried at the Catholic resting place Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California (located in San Mateo county).
I enjoyed seeing the clip of “What Happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City”. As a fan of “The Seven Year Itch” and Marilyn Monroe, I like this predecessor film!
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