Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince: The First Hollywood Mystery

You know we have all heard about all sorts of Hollywood oddities, sex scandals, mysteries, weird and some times dangerous legends, but in an industry that is rife with all sorts of bizarre situations that it's most popular players some times get in to, have you ever wondered what the first of them is?

I did, and you know what, I found out that it was from the earliest known inventor of the motion picture camera, 'Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince'!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="160"] Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince (1841 - 1890)[/caption]

You see in 1888, 'Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince' would make his ground breaking camera... During this time the French inventor, who was working in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, would end up filming the first two films of any variety with the, 'Roundhay Garden Scene' which was filmed on October 1888 and, 'Leeds Bridge' using his original and updated versions of his single lens camera in the, 'Mk' series of cameras that he had invented...

In the end though, I am sad to say, but this amazing inventor never really got the chance to make a major name for himself, you see, when he had started demonstrating his amazing new invention due to the fact that when he was on a train in 1890 he ended up disappearing luggage and all from the train... What happened to him?

Well no one really knows for sure, it has been said that Thomas Edison was involved in his murder, due to some trouble that Edison and the Le Prince family would have decades later (which we will discuss in a moment.)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="220"] One of the rumors in the death of, 'Louis Le Prince' is that, 'Thomas Edison' killed him to steal his patent![/caption]

It has also been said that he may have taken off as well... In the end though, the most prevailing theory is that he some how was murdered or committed suicide due to the fact that an old photo surfaced that could have been Le Prince and looks as though he had drowned...

Sadly though, this would not be the last time that Le Prince would be put in the middle of a, 'Hollywood Scandal' even if it was posthumously...

You see there was some confusion and a court battle involving Le Prince's invention in regards to Edison's claims that he was the first and sole inventor of the motion picture camera... A ruling that would rule in favor of Edison...

In the end though, the court ruling in that case was over turned, and in 1930, Le Prince would finally have the recognition he so richly deserved when he would finally be heralded as, 'The Father Of Cinematography'!

In the end, Le Prince may not have been recognized for his contributions to the world of Hollywood, and what happened to him may have been the first true Hollywood mystery, but in the end he can finally rest in peace with knowledge that this master of movies is recognized for the genius that he truly was!

http://youtu.be/_0sSYvm_5o8

 

http://youtu.be/L7saH58usq4

A Trip To Mars (1910) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

You know I have admit that ever since I started reviewing movies, I thought that I knew a ton about movies... In face I have learned that I didn't know anywhere near enough!

What I mean by this, is that I knew a ton about movies that had come out in the 80s and 90s, but when it comes to movies that come before and after that, I really didn't know much of anything... Don't get me wrong, I mean I did know some stuff, having seen a few movies in most decades post 1950s, as well as in the new millennium...
Since I have been reviewing movies, I have been discovering vast reservoirs of movies and movie knowledge that I didn't know about, that I absolutely love! I mean before I started reviewing movies, most of my knowledge about Black & White movies never went far beyond Psycho (1960), (Psycho is a great movie, but there is a lot more in this world then just that movie when it comes to Black & White Films!)

And as far as Short Films, I never really gave it a chance until relatively recently... And you know what? I have found that I really love these movies! I mean with the new ones they can be an awful lot of fun, but the ones that I really like are the ancient ones, I mean those are the films that give you a look at what the cinema was 70, 80, 90 or even 100 years ago!

And besides that, as bad as the quality with the movies that I have seen so far have been, I have to  admit that I have really enjoyed their stories, the overly dramatic acting, as well as just how far Special Effects have come since these movies were made!

Now fortunately with, A Trip To Mars (1910), being that this Short was one of the first Science Fiction Films ever made, historically it is quite fascinating, but beyond that it has not much real substance to it!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] The Scientist while he is on Mars...[/caption]

Directed by: Ashley Miller (The Actress), and made for Thomas Edison's company, this short story tells of how a Scientist who after he discovers, 'Reverse Gravity' ends up with his formula all over himself and ends up taking off out of his house.

Eventually this inventor ends up making it to, 'Mars' where he embarks on a strange adventure that has to do with scary living trees, and some giant guy who encases the inventor in a snowball... Once he gets out of there though, he goes home...

In the end it is historically fascinating, but beyond that this one doesn't have any real merrit!

http://youtu.be/Fm5Lwcecg6g