''Rip Van Winkle'' is a 1903 American short black-and-white silent

compilation film A compilation film, or compilation movie is a film composed of scenes and shots taken from two or more prior films and edited together so as to make a new film, whether on the same or a different subject. The most common example would be a docum ...

written and directed by William K.L. Dickson. It is adapted from the play by his friend and investor

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedia ...

with Dion Boucicault based on the 1819 story of the same name by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

Plot

The film features Joseph Jefferson as a ne'er-do-well, who wanders off one day into the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

, where he meets a group of odd men. He drinks some of their mysterious brew and passes out. When he wakes up, he find that 20 years have passed. The film is compiled from a series of films produced in 1896, which consisted of; *''Rip's Toast'' (AM&B Cat. #45) *''Rip Meets the Dwarf'' (AM&B Cat. #46) *''Rip and the Dwarf'' *''Rip Leaving Sleepy Hollow'' (AM&B Cat. #52) *''Rip's Toast to Hudson and Crew'' *''Rip's Twenty Years' Sleep'' (AM&B Cat. #50) *''Awakening of Rip'' *''Rip Passing Over Hill'' These films were added to the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

in 1995 and featured on the DVD release '' More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931''.

Production

The serial—filmed at

's summer home in

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Buzzards Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The population was 3,859 at the 2010 census. It is the most populous of the five CDPs in Bourne. Geography Buzzards Bay is located at (4 ...

in August 1896—was filmed in wide shot with a one or two camera setup in 68 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.36:1. American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. registered the copyright on February 4, 1897. The actor selected scenes that were largely pantomimed, eliminating the need for explanatory titles.

Release

The series was one of the films American Mutoscope offered to customers who purchased their

projectors A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types ...

in September 1896. Exhibitors had the option of purchasing any or all of the eight scenes and were free to display them in any order. The films were so popular that the production company (which changed its name to the Biograph Company) edited the scenes into a single feature in 1903. Thanks to hit films like ''The Kiss'' (1896), Biograph became one of the most popular studios in the United States.

References

External links

* * Films directed by William Kennedy Dickson American silent short films American black-and-white films United States National Film Registry films Films based on Rip Van Winkle American films based on plays Films set in New York (state) Films shot in Massachusetts Compilation films 1903 films Articles containing video clips Biograph Company films Films based on adaptations 1900s American films {{short-silent-film-stub