W.K.L. Dickson: the man who made the movies

When it comes to the birth of movies in America, most people are generally aware of New Jersey inventor Thomas Edison’s contributions.

But there’s another less prominent fellow who apparently was the brains behind moving images. His name was William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, aka W.K.L. Dickson, and he led the team that invented motion pictures in the Thomas Edison lab.

The Library of Congress Packard Campus Mount Pony Theater presents a free lecture and special film presentation on Dickson Saturday at 2 p.m.

Author Paul Spehr, former assistant chief of the library’s Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Record Sound Section in D.C., will give the lecture, based on his 2008 book, “The Man Who Made Movies: W.K.L. Dickson.”

Dickson (1860-1935) was an experimenter at Edison’s lab, who, in 1888, “was assigned to oversee research on a device which ‘would do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear,’” wrote Spehr in an e-mail, quoting Edison.

By 1891, perhaps as early as 1889, Dickson had successfully captured and reproduced movement, Spehr said.

By 1892, working closely with Eastman Kodak, he had designed the modern 35mm film format.

In addition, “Dickson designed a camera (the Kinetograph), a viewer (the Kinetoscope), lab equipment to develop and copy negative to positive films, a studio (actually several studios) and trained staff to operate the equipment,” Spehr said.

In 1894, Dickson moved motion pictures forward by making the first commercially successful modern motion pictures.

“He left Edison in 1895 because of his controversial involvement with the Latham family (who had roots in the Culpeper area) who were building a projector as a potential rival to Edison’s peep show viewer,” Spehr said.

After forming his own film company, the American Mutoscope Co. — Edison’s principal rival — and making more than 700 films, Dickson retired from production in 1902.

At Saturday’s Mount Pony presentation, Spehr — who worked for years with Dickson’s films — will talk about the man’s influence on filmmaking and show several examples of Dickson’s earliest film experiments.

“The Edison films are largely a record of vaudeville, circus and Broadway in the 19th century with some sports as well,” Spehr said. The most famous figures are Gentleman Jim Corbett, the world heavyweight champion, and Annie Oakley.

Also showing on the big-screen on Mount Pony will be theater legend Joseph Jefferson performing as Rip Van Winkle; the McKinley campaign film; Pope Leo, and the coronation of Queen Wilhelmina of Holland.

According to Spehr, Dickson, though born in Brittany, France, was connected to Virginia in that his mother was apparently born in Chesterfield County. After his father died, Dickson and his two sisters came to America, settling in Petersburg until he went to work for Edison in New York.

Patrick Loughney, chief at the LOC Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, said Dickson deserves much of the credit for inventing movies.

“He’s really the genius,” Loughney said in a recent interview with the Star-Exponent.

“(Dickson) invented the camera and the other piece of technology that you needed to be able to see movies, the playback technology — the projector. (George) Eastman invented the long strip of photographic film and Edison contributed the main inventing ideas, but it was really Dickson who worked them through.”

Find out how at Saturday’s unique presentation in Culpeper.

Want to go?

Learn more about Thomas Edison assistant W.K.L. Dickson at a special lecture and film presentation by author and retired LOC employee Paul Spehr Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mount Pony Theater in Culpeper.

Also this weekend at Mount Pony Theater:

Friday, 7:30 p.m. “Rear Window” (1954, Paramount)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. “A League of Their Own” (1992, Columbia)

» Make reservations for the free showings by calling (540) 827-1079 ext. 79994. Don’t have reservations? Show up early to get on stand-by.