Abstract
This analysis of two idiosyncratic works of early cinema considers the materiality of the forms each took, from creation through their restorations in the twenty-first century. Researching the well-known Three American Beauties (Edison, 1906) and the seldom-seen dance film Deyo (American Mutoscope Co., 1897) requires archival investigation and an understanding that the primary, secondary, and reference sources film historians rely upon sometimes contain erroneous reports, contradictory evidence, and misleading metadata. Deyo was shot on high-resolution film, but seen only on Mutoscope machines by a few people. It survives as fragments of 68mm paper rolls, which American Mutoscope and Biograph deposited for copyright ten years later. Three American Beauties survives as unique hand-colored 35mm prints, one of which I found to be a 1907 edition released as Three American Beauties, No. 2. However, a question conjoins these films: is Blanche Deyo, the dancer of 1897, also the “American beauty” of 1906?
Recommended Citation
Streible, Dan
(2024)
"Finding One American Beauty: Deyo and Deyo (1897),"
The Journal of e-Media Studies: Vol. 7:
Iss.
1, Article 16.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1938-6060.A.499
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/joems/vol7/iss1/16
1_DEYO_Part1_Part2_LOC_16mm .mp4 (46368 kB)
Video 1. Deyo. Parts 1 and 2. American Mutoscope Co., 1897. Copyright American Mutoscope and Biograph Co., 1907. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection version, in its prerestoration state. From an ungraded 2K scan of a black-and-white 16mm film print. The hint of pink is an artifact of the film scanner’s color sensors. (Video 3, found later in the essay, is the digital restoration.)
2_Three_American_Beauties_1906_NORWAY.mp4 (47640 kB)
Video 2. Three American Beauties. Filmed by Edwin S. Porter and Wallace McCutcheon, 1906. Copyright Thomas A. Edison, 1906. National Library of Norway version, restored 2016. From a 4K scan of an undated, hand-colored, 35mm nitrate print (53.5 feet).
Fig.1_Fisher_Christy_two_American_Beauties.png (1859 kB)
Figure 1. Harrison Fisher, American Beauties, 1907. Right: Howard Chandler Christy, American Beauties, 1906. Library of Congress photomechanical print, LC-USZC4-10358 (left). Detail from the Christy Post Card (right).
Fig.2_LOC_Deyo_68mm_paperprintsx2.png (1893 kB)
Figure 2. The 68mm paper rolls for Deyo (1897), deposited for copyright by American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. April 22, 1907. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection. Photos by Alexis Ainsworth. Deyo
3_DEYO_composite_2022.mp4 (13829 kB)
Video 3. Deyo. Composite of unique frames found in the two paper rolls AMB deposited with the US Copyright Office in 1907. Cineric 4K scan (2019), edited by Simon Lund in 2022.
Fig.3_Annabelle Serpentine Dance_1896_LOC_copyright_two_photos.png (1831 kB)
Figure 3. The two copyright deposit photographs for Serpentine Dance by Annabelle; three by four inches. Library of Congress Paper Prints Fragment. Deyo
Fig.4_AMB_no.7-9_Skirt_Dance_by_Annabelle_1896.png (1874 kB)
Figure 4. Keyframes in Biograph Photo Catalog (1902) for the first American Mutoscope subjects made for public release: Skirt Dance by Annabelle (no. 9) and two shots of Union Square (1896). Union Square was filmed by W. K. L. Dickson in 1896 from the company’s Broadway location. Biograph Collection, The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film Special Collections, New York.
Fig.5_Deyo_Fuller_Chicago_Tribune_1908.png (682 kB)
Figure 5. Detail from a full-page rotogravure photomontage pairing Loie Fuller and Blanche Deyo. “Dancing Sensations of the Year,” Chicago Tribune, June 7, 1908. The photograph of Deyo was taken eight years earlier. Deyo
Fig.6_Deyo_Gaiety_Dance_AMB-167-168_MoMA_Biograph_Photo_Catalog.png (1814 kB)
Figure 6. From the Biograph Photo Catalog, AMB nos. 167 and 168. Biograph Collection, MoMA Department of Film Special Collections. Deyo
4_SNEEZE_LOC_restoration.mp4 (40131 kB)
Video 4. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, January 7, 1894. Filmed by W. K. L. Dickson, 1894. A 16mm film animation of the paper print in 1953 marked the first time the Sneeze was seen in motion. The full-length version here was not seen in motion until restored by the LOC National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in 2013. Library of Congress.
Fig.7_Gold_Dust_Twins_contact_print_Niver_Early_Motion_Pictures.png (1138 kB)
Figure 7. Photograph of a contact print in the LOC Paper Print Collection, from Niver’s Early Motion Pictures. The images match those in The Gold Dust Twins (AMB no. 2259). Filmed by Robert K. Bonine, November 1902. The AFI Catalog suggests this was copyrighted in 1903 as Let the Gold Dust Twins Do Your Work.
Fig.8_Harvard_Mutoscope_1903_UAV_170_270_3.png (1720 kB)
Figure 8. Mutoscope rolls in situ. Haugton and Kernan kicking and passing the football, 1903. UAV 170.270.3, Harvard University Archives. Deyo
Fig.9_thumb_book_Biograph Bulletins_page1_Kathryn_Osterman.png (1893 kB)
Figure 9. Photo captioned "Thumb Books," in Biograph Bulletins, 1896-1908, 1. Deyo
5_He_Loves_Me_He_Loves_Me_Not_1903.mp4 (17056 kB)
Video 5. “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.” AMB no. 2458. Kathryn Osterman, filmed by Wallace McCutcheon, August 3, 1903, in the new Biograph studio on East 14th Street. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection.
Fig.10_Stereograph_AMB_c1904_Kathryn_Osterman..png (1829 kB)
Figure 10. AMB stereograph card showing Kathryn Osterman. Three and a half by seven inches. From the collection of Shiyang Jiang. Deyo
Fig.11_J.H. Culver, Lib. of Cong._Paper_Prints.png (1847 kB)
Figure 11. J. H. Culver, Lib. of Cong., Deck 4, Annex / by Jno. [John] Lane. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Gelatin silver print, eight by ten inches. LC-USZ62-16935. Deyo
Fig.12_Deyo_Graceful_Dancer_1907_Winthrop_ad_1909.png (1853 kB)
Figure 12. Cover of Deyo, The Graceful Dancer (Winthrop Moving Picture Post Card, 1907) and Winthrop advertisement in Moving Picture World, July 17, 1909. Deyo
Fig.13_Bright_Side_of_Kissing_Deyo_1907.jpeg (1384 kB)
Figure 13. Back and front covers of The Bright Side of Kissing, and the Dark Side (1907). Right: The matching frame from the 68mm paper print of 1907, scanned full frame by Cineric. Deyo
Fig.14_BFI_Three_Am_Beauties_No.2.png (1739 kB)
Figure 14. Frames from a BFI National Archive 35mm print of Three American Beauties, No. 2 (1907), as captured from a flatbed film viewer. Preview images courtesy of Bryony Dixon. Deyo
Fig.15_Deyo_portraits_ca.1906.png (1833 kB)
Figure 15. Left: Found photograph by Hallen Studio of New York (before 1910). Center: Hallen photo, Burr McIntosh Monthly (November 1906). Right: “Blanche Deyo. In ‘The Social Whirl,’ at the Casino,” New York Tribune, April 1, 1906. Deyo
Video 1. Deyo. Parts 1 and 2. American Mutoscope Co., 1897. Copyright American Mutoscope and Biograph Co., 1907. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection version, in its prerestoration state. From an ungraded 2K scan of a black-and-white 16mm film print. The hint of pink is an artifact of the film scanner’s color sensors. (Video 3, found later in the essay, is the digital restoration.)
2_Three_American_Beauties_1906_NORWAY.mp4 (47640 kB)
Video 2. Three American Beauties. Filmed by Edwin S. Porter and Wallace McCutcheon, 1906. Copyright Thomas A. Edison, 1906. National Library of Norway version, restored 2016. From a 4K scan of an undated, hand-colored, 35mm nitrate print (53.5 feet).
Fig.1_Fisher_Christy_two_American_Beauties.png (1859 kB)
Figure 1. Harrison Fisher, American Beauties, 1907. Right: Howard Chandler Christy, American Beauties, 1906. Library of Congress photomechanical print, LC-USZC4-10358 (left). Detail from the Christy Post Card (right).
Fig.2_LOC_Deyo_68mm_paperprintsx2.png (1893 kB)
Figure 2. The 68mm paper rolls for Deyo (1897), deposited for copyright by American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. April 22, 1907. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection. Photos by Alexis Ainsworth. Deyo
3_DEYO_composite_2022.mp4 (13829 kB)
Video 3. Deyo. Composite of unique frames found in the two paper rolls AMB deposited with the US Copyright Office in 1907. Cineric 4K scan (2019), edited by Simon Lund in 2022.
Fig.3_Annabelle Serpentine Dance_1896_LOC_copyright_two_photos.png (1831 kB)
Figure 3. The two copyright deposit photographs for Serpentine Dance by Annabelle; three by four inches. Library of Congress Paper Prints Fragment. Deyo
Fig.4_AMB_no.7-9_Skirt_Dance_by_Annabelle_1896.png (1874 kB)
Figure 4. Keyframes in Biograph Photo Catalog (1902) for the first American Mutoscope subjects made for public release: Skirt Dance by Annabelle (no. 9) and two shots of Union Square (1896). Union Square was filmed by W. K. L. Dickson in 1896 from the company’s Broadway location. Biograph Collection, The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film Special Collections, New York.
Fig.5_Deyo_Fuller_Chicago_Tribune_1908.png (682 kB)
Figure 5. Detail from a full-page rotogravure photomontage pairing Loie Fuller and Blanche Deyo. “Dancing Sensations of the Year,” Chicago Tribune, June 7, 1908. The photograph of Deyo was taken eight years earlier. Deyo
Fig.6_Deyo_Gaiety_Dance_AMB-167-168_MoMA_Biograph_Photo_Catalog.png (1814 kB)
Figure 6. From the Biograph Photo Catalog, AMB nos. 167 and 168. Biograph Collection, MoMA Department of Film Special Collections. Deyo
4_SNEEZE_LOC_restoration.mp4 (40131 kB)
Video 4. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, January 7, 1894. Filmed by W. K. L. Dickson, 1894. A 16mm film animation of the paper print in 1953 marked the first time the Sneeze was seen in motion. The full-length version here was not seen in motion until restored by the LOC National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in 2013. Library of Congress.
Fig.7_Gold_Dust_Twins_contact_print_Niver_Early_Motion_Pictures.png (1138 kB)
Figure 7. Photograph of a contact print in the LOC Paper Print Collection, from Niver’s Early Motion Pictures. The images match those in The Gold Dust Twins (AMB no. 2259). Filmed by Robert K. Bonine, November 1902. The AFI Catalog suggests this was copyrighted in 1903 as Let the Gold Dust Twins Do Your Work.
Fig.8_Harvard_Mutoscope_1903_UAV_170_270_3.png (1720 kB)
Figure 8. Mutoscope rolls in situ. Haugton and Kernan kicking and passing the football, 1903. UAV 170.270.3, Harvard University Archives. Deyo
Fig.9_thumb_book_Biograph Bulletins_page1_Kathryn_Osterman.png (1893 kB)
Figure 9. Photo captioned "Thumb Books," in Biograph Bulletins, 1896-1908, 1. Deyo
5_He_Loves_Me_He_Loves_Me_Not_1903.mp4 (17056 kB)
Video 5. “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.” AMB no. 2458. Kathryn Osterman, filmed by Wallace McCutcheon, August 3, 1903, in the new Biograph studio on East 14th Street. Library of Congress Paper Print Collection.
Fig.10_Stereograph_AMB_c1904_Kathryn_Osterman..png (1829 kB)
Figure 10. AMB stereograph card showing Kathryn Osterman. Three and a half by seven inches. From the collection of Shiyang Jiang. Deyo
Fig.11_J.H. Culver, Lib. of Cong._Paper_Prints.png (1847 kB)
Figure 11. J. H. Culver, Lib. of Cong., Deck 4, Annex / by Jno. [John] Lane. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Gelatin silver print, eight by ten inches. LC-USZ62-16935. Deyo
Fig.12_Deyo_Graceful_Dancer_1907_Winthrop_ad_1909.png (1853 kB)
Figure 12. Cover of Deyo, The Graceful Dancer (Winthrop Moving Picture Post Card, 1907) and Winthrop advertisement in Moving Picture World, July 17, 1909. Deyo
Fig.13_Bright_Side_of_Kissing_Deyo_1907.jpeg (1384 kB)
Figure 13. Back and front covers of The Bright Side of Kissing, and the Dark Side (1907). Right: The matching frame from the 68mm paper print of 1907, scanned full frame by Cineric. Deyo
Fig.14_BFI_Three_Am_Beauties_No.2.png (1739 kB)
Figure 14. Frames from a BFI National Archive 35mm print of Three American Beauties, No. 2 (1907), as captured from a flatbed film viewer. Preview images courtesy of Bryony Dixon. Deyo
Fig.15_Deyo_portraits_ca.1906.png (1833 kB)
Figure 15. Left: Found photograph by Hallen Studio of New York (before 1910). Center: Hallen photo, Burr McIntosh Monthly (November 1906). Right: “Blanche Deyo. In ‘The Social Whirl,’ at the Casino,” New York Tribune, April 1, 1906. Deyo
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