1891 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

The following is an overview of the events of 1891 in film, including a list of films released and notable births.

Events

• William K. L. Dickson, an assistant to Thomas Edison, supervises the construction of the first movie studio, the "Black Maria", in West Orange, New Jersey which produces many of the early Kinetoscope short films of the 1890s later seen in penny arcades the following year after the studio is completed.
• March – William K. L. Dickson successfully develops a working prototype of the Kinetoscope which moves horizontally.
• May 20 – First public display of Thomas Edison's prototype horizontal kinetoscope: Dickson Greeting is shown at Edison's Laboratory for a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs in West Orange, New Jersey.
• August 24 – Thomas Edison files for a patent for the motion picture camera (which he receives in 1897).

Films released in 1891

• Dickson Greeting, starring and directed by William K. L. Dickson.
• Duncan and Another, Blacksmith Shop, directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and starring James C. Duncan.
• Duncan Smoking, directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and starring James C. Duncan.
• Duncan or Devonald with Muslin Cloud, directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise and starring Fred C. Devonald and James C. Duncan.
• Men Boxing, directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise.
• Monkey and Another, Boxing, directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise.
• Newark Athlete, directed by William K. L. Dickson.
• Je vous aime, starring and directed by Georges Demenÿ.
• La vague, directed by Étienne-Jules Marey.
• Two Fencers, directed by Étienne-Jules Marey.

Births

• January 15 - Arne Weel (died 1975)
• February 7 - Ann Little, American actress (died 1984)
• February 9 - Ronald Colman, English actor (died 1958)
• March 6
  • Victor Kilian, American actor (died 1979)
  • Lidia Quaranta, Italian actress (died 1928)
• March 8 - Sam Jaffe, American actor (died 1984)
• March 11 - Gertrud Wolle, German actress (died 1952)
• March 31 - Victor Varconi, Hungarian-born American actor (died 1976)
• April 2 - Jack Buchanan, Scottish director, writer, and actor (died 1957)
• April 10 - Tim McCoy, American cowboy actor, soldier (died 1978)
• April 15 - Wallace Reid, American actor (died 1923)
• April 23 - Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (died 1953)
• May 13 - Fritz Rasp, German actor (died 1976)
• June 24 - Philippe Richard, French actor (died 1973)
• July 18 - Gene Lockhart, Canadian actor (died 1957)
• July 23 - Harry Cohn, American co-founder of CBS Sales Association (Columbia Pictures) (died 1958)
• July 28 - Joe E. Brown, American actor and comedian (died 1973)
• August 4 - Margit Makay, Hungarian actress (died 1989)
• November 10 - Philip Sainton, French-British composer (died 1967)
• November 18 - Vasil Gendov, Bulgarian actor, director and screenwriter (died 1970)

External links

Media related to 1891 in film at Wikimedia Commons

• 1891 at the Internet Movie Database