William Heise was an American film cinematographer and director, active in the 1890s. Along with William K.L. Dickson, Heise was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the nascent days of cinema. Together, both men worked on many of the early shorts produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and were credited for more than 175 short silent films, capturing numerous scenes of everyday life as well as different aspects of performance and sport.
Total trailers found: 107
01 January 1896
“The watchful father disturbs a dream of bliss, and the bucolic lover is taught a lesson. He made a great hit.
17 June 1894
The famous army scout in an exhibition of rifle shooting. A fine picture of the principal, and beautiful smoke effects.
31 May 1897
“This film is remarkable in several respects. In the first place, it is full life-size. Secondly, it is the only accurate recent portrait of the great inventor.
01 April 1896
They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.
02 October 1894
A referee and five fans (including a waiter in his apron) look on as two young men box. The dark-haired, slightly taller boxer throws a right and the light-haired smaller one goes down; but he's up before the referee starts counting.
02 October 1908
Imagine ten pickaninnies turned loose and on mischief bent. Farmer catches one leaving but Nine. Nine Happy Snowballs on a Swing elate.
05 October 1894
Hadji Cheriff, a performer known for a variety of unusual abilities, demonstrates part of his act in the Thomas Edison studio.
09 May 1895
Princess Ali, of Barnum and Bailey's circus, performs an Egyptian dance in the Edison Company's studio.
20 July 1897
From Edison films catalog: A long line of horses, mules and ponies are led, driven and ridden into the yards, where they are sold and distributed.
01 November 1894
A short Edison Black Maria studio film featuring famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley, known as “Little Sure Shot.
01 August 1897
Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.
31 August 1897
A vaudeville routine: two denizens of the Bowery dance while under the influence. She's wearing a light dress with a full skirt.
08 May 1893
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around. Notable for being the first film in which a scene is being acted out.
01 January 1894
Mlle. Capitaine, the noted trapezist, performs daring feats on the flying bar. An early Edison short directed by W.
01 January 1895
By Fiji Islanders. A peculiar dance by genuine artists, dressed or rather undressed, in their native garb.
23 September 1894
Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what is believed to be the Native Americans first appearance before a motion picture camera 'Buffalo Dance' features genuine members of the Sioux Tribe dressed in full war paint and costume! The dancers are believed to be veteran members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
23 March 1896
Vaudeville dancer Amy Muller performs a portion of her stage routine, which features dancing on her toes.
23 May 1897
“A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight.
01 January 1895
The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes two characters, then dies abruptly in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr.
01 January 1896
A fellow in a wide-brimmed hat, with a willowy stick for a rod and a baited hook, sits down on a plank hanging over a bridge above a stream.
21 March 1898
"Shows the beach at Long Branch, N.J. immediately after a heavy storm. The breaking waves dash over a row of spiles, throwing a spray high into the air.
28 November 1894
A scene from Charles Hoyt's 'A Milk White Flag': A brass band marches out, led by bandmaster Steele Ayers.
01 January 1898
A showcase of trapeze artist Alciede Capitaine, billed as “The Perfect Woman,” whose daring feats on the flying bar combined grace with breathtaking athleticism.
01 January 1895
The participants are natives of Ceylon. Their dance is very interesting being so different from Western ideas of harmonies of motion.
25 July 1894
King of the slack wire. His daring feats of balancing as he performs his thrilling feats in midair show that he is perfectly at home.
20 May 1891
William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience.
24 October 1897
A woman in a white gown performs a skirt dance, using her arms to produce circles and other patterns within the folds of her costume.
01 January 1893
One of the pictures to be seen in the machine, for example, was that of a blacksmith shop in which two men were working, one shoeing a horse, the other heating iron at the forge.
01 January 1894
Three sisters dance the Mikado in this very early film from the Edison company.
06 August 1897
"Stable door opens and ambulance dashes out into the street. Policeman holds back a furniture van till ambulance passes by.
14 March 1894
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States.
01 January 1895
The Leigh Sisters perform a risqué Trilby-inspired dance with an umbrella. Scene from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr.
30 April 1891
Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.
05 October 1894
The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete", which depicts a boxer with a classic style trying to contend with an opponent who uses a very unorthodox approach.
14 June 1894
In the background, five fans lean on the ropes looking into the ring. The referee is to the left; like the fans, he hardly moves as two fighters swing roundhouse blows at each other.
01 January 1895
The sinister mesmerist Svengali hypnotizes a group of people and compels them to perform various humorous acts in a Trilby segment from David Henderson's Aladdin, Jr.
31 August 1894
William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.
16 July 1894
"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh.
16 October 1894
Lee Martin, one of the cowboy stars in 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West', rides a bronco as a crowd looks on.
20 October 1898
A short documentary capturing the officers and crew of the USS Brooklyn during a naval parade in Brooklyn, New York, on October 1, 1898, following the Spanish-American War.
15 June 1896
The camera shows a water ride at Bergen Beach at Coney Island. A raised track filled with water forms a chute, and a small boat full of park visitors slides down the chute.
20 July 1897
The busiest corner in Chicago. Cable cars and street traffic of all descriptions. Hundreds of shoppers.
16 May 1894
“A scene representing Southern plantation life before the war. A jig and a breakdown by three colored boys.
20 December 1898
Several men in a basement barbershop become excited by women walking past the window. The ankles and knees of the passersby are visible to the men below, causing pandemonium among the barbershop customers.
20 May 1898
A preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera.
30 September 1898
In this movie, dancer Ella Lola performs a Turkish variation of a "Danse Du Ventre", the oriental belly dance.
01 January 1894
Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly.
01 May 1891
Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.
01 January 1894
Luis Martinetti, a contortionist suspended from acrobatic flying rings, contorts himself for about thirty seconds.
01 January 1894
The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete".
23 October 1896
A woman and a young girl each carry containers of bird feed, and they toss occasional handfuls to the chickens and doves in the farmyard.
19 May 1898
The Reading's [Pennsylvania] pitcher has just let a Newark [New Jersey] batsman walk to first. Our camera is stationed about twenty feet from the bag, and the satisfied grin of the runner is great as he touches first and gets up on his toes for second.
20 October 1897
Ten horse-drawn pieces of equipment of the Buffalo Fire Department pass by a stationary camera that looks down a broad avenue as they come toward it.
30 January 1895
Former lightweight boxer Billy Edwards, now a trainer and writer of the sport, takes on a challenger named Warwick in an exhibition match.
01 January 1891
Lost film from 1891, directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. The film stars Fred C. Devonald and James C.
