There were actually two films made by the Edison Film Company. Cockfight (1894) was one of the first films made to play on the Edison Company's Kinetoscope viewer. The film was so popular that the negatives wore out and the director, W. K. L. Dickson remade the film the following year. For the second film, two spectators were recruited to point at the fighting cocks and act excited. It is this second film, Cockfight No. 2 that we see the day. The first film is likely gone for good.
It's an interesting and historic film although some modern viewers may be disgusted by the idea of animals fighting for the entertainment of us humans. This film and the other Edison kinetoscope products may function as a film snapshot of what interested the mass audience in the 1890s.
It's an interesting and historic film although some modern viewers may be disgusted by the idea of animals fighting for the entertainment of us humans. This film and the other Edison kinetoscope products may function as a film snapshot of what interested the mass audience in the 1890s.