Chinese Opium Den is an 1894

1894 in film

-Events:* January 7 - William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.* January 7 - Thomas Edison films his assistant, Fred Ott sneezing with the Kinetoscope at the "Black Maria."...

 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 short

Short subject

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...

 black-and-white

Black-and-white

Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...

 silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 film. It is an early motion picture produced by Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

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Very little is known about this film as no print is believed to exist and all that remains is a single still image. It is believed to be the first motion picture to explore the issue of drug use. Ten years later Edison produced Rube in an Opium Joint, which is seen as the earliest such film that still survives.

According to the Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

 the film was made in a 35mm film format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The movie was intended to be displayed through means of a Kinetoscope

Kinetoscope

The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...

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