Major General Shafter (1898)
The Spanish-American War must have been quite profitable for Edison Studios because they released dozens of films on the subject. This one here runs just 30-seconds and we see the 5th Army Coprs commander William Rufus Shafter as he rides by the camera on a horse. If you're a fan of early cinema or a history buff then this film will have a little interest to you but I think the majority of people would see something like this and not even understand that it was an actual movie. The only type of entertainment to get out of something like this is being able to see how things were back in 1898. Hollywood could certainly make a movie about events in that time but the benefit of films like this is that you can actually see how things looked. The camera stays place for the entire time but in the background you can see some tents set up, which I'm sure was for the soldiers. It's also interesting seeing the outfits being worn.
The Spanish-American War must have been quite profitable for Edison Studios because they released dozens of films on the subject. This one here runs just 30-seconds and we see the 5th Army Coprs commander William Rufus Shafter as he rides by the camera on a horse. If you're a fan of early cinema or a history buff then this film will have a little interest to you but I think the majority of people would see something like this and not even understand that it was an actual movie. The only type of entertainment to get out of something like this is being able to see how things were back in 1898. Hollywood could certainly make a movie about events in that time but the benefit of films like this is that you can actually see how things looked. The camera stays place for the entire time but in the background you can see some tents set up, which I'm sure was for the soldiers. It's also interesting seeing the outfits being worn.
