Let's Go To The Movies
Chapter One: Pre-Hollywood
#PWHS #Article #LetsGoToTheMovies #PreHollywood
December 5, 1899 - Washington Times
Wrestlers in movies have gone hand-in-hand for the longest of times. Heck, some of the first motion pictures ever recorded by Thomas Edison included wrestlers and in 1894 he released his first batch of motion pictures for public purchase which included a wrestling match between Petit and Kessler. Several more matches were recorded going up until 1899, unfortunately the wrestlers that were used were not recorded in the titles or descriptions in the Edison catalog.
However, one match we do know was filmed was Ernest Roeber and Professor James Atlas in 1899. There are newspaper clippings that confirm this and advertise that the footage was being shown in cinema's in the northeast of America. Six months to a year after it was filmed, Atlas sued for damages stating that the footage was not entirely of him and the match he had taken part in was a draw not a one-sided mauling in favor of Roeber as the footage portrayed. O'Reilly and Woods the makers of the reel agreed to no longer advertise Atlas as a participant.
Ernest Roeber is a name that comes up again in these early days as in 1900 he and Magnus Bech-Olsen who battled for the World Graeco-Roman Championship in Madison Square Garden on March 21. This made them the first two wrestlers to actually be named in the title of a release, the only thing was, the match was not filmed as it happened, but rather a re-enactment put together by Siegmund Lubin, who was a big name in early movies until WWI broke out and things went down hill for his Philadelphia based Lubinville company.
Once again Roeber would be caught on film as he and August Faust received the next wrestling match to have a name, it was entitled "A Wrestling Match with Roeber," released by James Blackton and Albert Smith. This match is very possibly the short clip that is played by the WWE in their opening video. As you can see in the picture, the backdrop and the audience is the same as featured in the video. It was actually set-up on top of the Vitagraph Studios roof with a theatrical style backdrop and a placed crowd.
However, one match we do know was filmed was Ernest Roeber and Professor James Atlas in 1899. There are newspaper clippings that confirm this and advertise that the footage was being shown in cinema's in the northeast of America. Six months to a year after it was filmed, Atlas sued for damages stating that the footage was not entirely of him and the match he had taken part in was a draw not a one-sided mauling in favor of Roeber as the footage portrayed. O'Reilly and Woods the makers of the reel agreed to no longer advertise Atlas as a participant.
Ernest Roeber is a name that comes up again in these early days as in 1900 he and Magnus Bech-Olsen who battled for the World Graeco-Roman Championship in Madison Square Garden on March 21. This made them the first two wrestlers to actually be named in the title of a release, the only thing was, the match was not filmed as it happened, but rather a re-enactment put together by Siegmund Lubin, who was a big name in early movies until WWI broke out and things went down hill for his Philadelphia based Lubinville company.
Once again Roeber would be caught on film as he and August Faust received the next wrestling match to have a name, it was entitled "A Wrestling Match with Roeber," released by James Blackton and Albert Smith. This match is very possibly the short clip that is played by the WWE in their opening video. As you can see in the picture, the backdrop and the audience is the same as featured in the video. It was actually set-up on top of the Vitagraph Studios roof with a theatrical style backdrop and a placed crowd.
They weren't the only titles released though, but they were the main two matches, scripted or not, anything else tended to be just odds and ends of wrestling without identifying who was involved or occasionally a comedic wrestling piece could take place. The processes in which recording happened were quickly evolving and this allowed for more flexibility in how and when they could actually film a match taking place.
1905 saw the start a trend that would follow for the next several years when Tom Jenkins met Georges Hackenschmidt on May 4 in Madison Square Garden. Hackenschmidt would come out on top. It appears this film was only available in Britain though and was made by Charles Urban. In 1908 the first American release of a live match took place, although this one actually took place in the Oxford Music Hall in England.
Unfortunately there had been some major glitches with the visibility of those first two matches and they were commercial failures. Then the biggest match possible at that time came to focus in America, Frank Gotch Vs. Georges Hackenschmidt for the World Heavyweight Championship. On April 3, 1908 the two met with Frank Gotch winning the title and the footage was heralded as a success by the media. Making everyone involved a nice chunk of change.
The next known match of this kind to be recorded would be an encounter between Gotch and Stanislaus Zbyszko that took place on June 1, 1910. In comparison to the Hackenschmidt it lacked a lot in terms of financial success, but they would've been hard pressed to find any match with as much anticipation as the April 1908 contest. Well, that was until the official announcement was made that three years in the making Hackenschmidt versus Gotch two would take place. Apparently it did not do as well as their first, but it still received a fairly length tour across America and over to England and made decent money.
August 27, 1912 - Des Moines Register
Following this footage of matches would still be recorded and played, but more so in a newsreel fashion rather than as stand alone features. In the 1920's filming had become much easier and as we all know would continue to do so into the 1930's and as you'd imagine with this more and more matches could be caught on camera leading up until the invention of television leading up to what we have today with too many hours of a singular company on our televisions per week.
Of course, none of that includes an actual movie release though. They would also come into play in the early 1900's, but it was not until around 1915 that they really started to take off and mass advancements were made during WWI in America in the filming industry. It was during this period that one of the earliest appearances of a wrestler in a movie happened when William Muldoon appeared in the 1916 release, The Other Girl.
Then after that the door was open for wrestlers to cross over, they'd always have a part as a lead bad guy or as some kind of monster in a horror movie, especially those who were naturally big, aggressive looking, and had some war scars on them from the mat game. If Frank Gotch had not suffered an early demise in 1917 it is thought he would have gone into movies and been a huge star as the lead hero. He had many friends in the early Hollywood scene already, then combine that with his popularity within the sporting community as well as being a national hero, it's likely he truly would have been very successful.
There were many who did make odd appearances though and some who made a career from it. Those wrestlers will be looked at in part two of this two part article.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Let's Go To The Movies: Chapter One.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: July 2014.
Article: #35.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Let's Go To The Movies: Chapter One.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: July 2014.
Article: #35.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Let's Go To The Movies: Chapter Two - Read Here.
Other articles by Jimmy can be Read Here.