{{Short description|1889 short silent film}} {{about|the 1889 short film series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Monkeyshines | image = Monkeyshines - yt.webm | caption = ''Monkeyshines No. 1'' and ''2'' | director = William K. L. Dickson <br> William Heise | starring = Fred Ott <br> Giuseppe Sacco Albanese | released = {{Film date|1889}} | country = United States | language = Silent | runtime = 56 seconds (No. 1 and 2) }} '''''Monkeyshines''''' is a series of experimental short silent films made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope; those films are believed to be the first to be shot in the United States.
''Monkeyshines, No. 1'' was shot by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise for the Edison labs. Scholars have differing opinions on whether the first was shot in June 1889 starring Fred Ott or at some time between November 21–27, 1890, starring Giuseppe Sacco Albanese.<ref name="kino">Kino Video. [http://www.kino.com/edison/d1.html "Edison: The Invention of the Movies"]. Retrieved August 13, 2006. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514180127/http://www.kino.com/edison/d1.html |date=May 14, 2011 }}</ref> Both men were fellow lab workers at the company; contradictory evidence exists for each claim. ''Monkeyshines, No. 2'' and ''Monkeyshines, No. 3'' quickly followed to test further conditions.
These films were intended to be internal tests of the new camera system, and were not created for commercial use; their rise to prominence resulted much later due to work by film historians. All three films show a blurry figure<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Edmund |url=https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Edison/4DyGDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Monkeyshines+edison&pg=PA289&printsec=frontcover |title=Edison |date=2019-10-22 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-679-64465-1 |language=en}}</ref> in white standing in one place making large gestures and are only a few seconds long. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Daniel |url=https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Media_in_Mind/Fdt1DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Monkeyshines+edison&pg=PA93&printsec=frontcover |title=Media in Mind |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-087251-9 |language=en}}</ref>''Monkeyshines No. 3'' has disappeared and may be lost.
==References== <references />
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb title | 0361921 | Monkeyshines, No. 1}} * {{IMDb title | 0416046 | Monkeyshines, No. 2}} * {{YouTube |id=jrznaNBc5mI|Monkeyshines (1889/1890)}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025}} * {{YouTube |id=ku7Sq_WR--M|title=''Monkeyshines, No. 1''}} * {{YouTube |id=ij0jEWvThwA|title=''Monkeyshines, No. 2''}} {{William Kennedy Dickson}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1889 films<!--leave both year categories; see article text--> Category:1890 films Category:1889 short films Category:1890 short films Category:1880s American films Category:1890s American films Category:Films shot in New Jersey Category:Films directed by William Kennedy Dickson Category:Films directed by William Heise Category:Film series introduced in 1889 Category:Articles containing video clips Category:American silent short films Category:American black-and-white films
{{short-silent-film-stub}} {{1880s-film-stub}}