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Film, Video A ballroom tragedy Shooting title in Biograph Co. production logs: Ball room tragedy

Digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • A ballroom tragedy

Other Title

  • Shooting title in Biograph Co. production logs: Ball room tragedy

Summary

  • Opens on a set of a sitting room, apparently off a ballroom where dancers occasionally can be glimpsed through a curtained entrance stage right. Near the entrance, a young couple in formal attire talk--perhaps angrily--as another couple exit the dancing. The second man introduces his companion--a striking woman in a risqué white gown with a low-cut bodice and bare shoulders--to the other man and then reenters the dance hall. The young man apparently rejects his female companion, who is plainer in comparison with the new arrival, and invites the woman in white to join him on a settee. The two talk closely and affectionately, as the spurned woman returns with a knife in her hand and hides in the curtain behind the sitting couple. When the two kiss, she reaches out and stabs her rival in the back. The injured woman jumps up in pain and then collapses on the floor, apparently dead. The murderess runs away as the young man rushes to hold the fallen woman.
  • "The scene shows the hall of a private residence with the dance progressing in the distant parlors. A young couple are seen quarrelling, and the young man discards his fiancee for another fair charmer. The rejected girl goes away in a rage, but returns just in time to witness a scene between her lover and her rival. Infuriated at the sight she draws a stiletto from her gown and stabs the unfortunate girl who has usurped her place. 50 feet"--Biograph bulletin, no. 55.

Names

  • Bitzer, G. W., 1872-1944, camera
  • American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
  • Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905.

Headings

  • -  Jealousy--Drama
  • -  Murder--Drama
  • -  Crimes of passion--Drama
  • -  Silent films

Genre

  • Melodramas (Motion pictures)
  • Short films
  • Fiction films

Notes

  • -  H62508 U.S. Copyright Office
  • -  Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 22June1905; H62508.
  • -  Original main title lacking.
  • -  Duration: 0:50 at 16 fps.
  • -  Paper print shelf number (LC 0900) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
  • -  Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
  • -  Biograph production no. 3041.
  • -  Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Niver, K. Early motion pictures, p. 22; AFI catalog: film beginnings, 1893-1910; Biograph bulletins 1896-1908, p. 219.
  • -  Camera, G.W. "Billy" Bitzer.
  • -  Filmed June 14, 1905, in the Biograph New York City studio.
  • -  Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.

Medium

  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (26 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (ca. 50 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • viewing print (copy 2) 1 film reel of 1 (50 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (26 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (ca. 50 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • paper pos 1 roll of 1 (ca. 50 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.
  • paper pos (copy 2) 1 roll of 1 (ca. 50 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FLA 3914 (viewing print)
  • FEC 2130 (viewing print)
  • FEC 2539 (viewing print, copy 2)
  • FRA 0174 (dupe neg pic)
  • FPE 7620 (dupe neg pic)
  • Box 0120D (paper pos)
  • Box 5201B (paper pos, copy 2)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 96521908

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bitzer, G. W., Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, and Paper Print Collection. A Ballroom Tragedy. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905. Video. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/96521908/.

APA citation style:

Bitzer, G. W., American Mutoscope And Biograph Company & Paper Print Collection. (1905) A Ballroom Tragedy. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/96521908/.

MLA citation style:

Bitzer, G. W., Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, and Paper Print Collection. A Ballroom Tragedy. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/96521908/>.