Timeline of Greatest Film
Milestones and Turning Points
in Film History


The Year 1905

Timeline of Greatest Film History Milestones and Turning Points
(by decade and year)
Introduction | Pre-1900s | 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909

The Year 1905
Year
Event and Significance
1905
Harry Davis and John Harris opened their first movie theater, dubbing it a nickelodeon, in Pittsburgh. The opening feature was The Great Train Robbery (1903). The name for the converted storefront, dance hall or theater was derived from the cost of admission -- a nickel -- and the Greek word for theater -- "odeon."
1905
The first ever parody of a film was Edwin S. Porter's 12-minute short The Little Train Robbery (1905) - a parody of his own The Great Train Robbery (1903).
1905
The Warner Brothers (three brothers, Harry, Sam, and Albert) opened their first nickelodeon (theatre), a building that they called the Cascade Movie Palace, in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The historical marker at the present-day site stated: "WARNER BROTHERS' FIRST THEATRE - An early milestone for the Warners' film empire was the operation by Harry, Sam, and Albert Warner of a theater her, 1906-07. It seated 99 persons, who could view three movies for a nickel. Sixteen years later, Warner Bros. Pictures was established." [Two years later, the Warners sold the Cascade and left New Castle, moving to Pittsburgh where they established their own film exchange, the Duquesne Amusement and Supply Company.]
1905
Cooper Hewitt mercury lamps made it practical to shoot films indoors without sunlight.
1905
The American entertainment trade journal Variety began publication weekly in New York City.
1905
The short action-oriented British melodrama Rescued by Rover (1905, UK) was produced by Cecil Hepworth, and was the earliest cinematic canine feature. Its star was Rover, a shepherd dog (Rough Collie breed) - the first canine film star. It was a very early and notable example of creative cutting and energetic traveling shots (moving across the screen in a consistent direction) to make it more suspenseful. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it was also the least expensive movie to produce, at $37.40. However, the 7-minute film was so successful that the negative wore out and the film had to be made all over again.
1905
Director Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company's family-oriented comedy short The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog (1905) was based upon a popular postcard fad of its day, and daringly created humor from the name of the dysfunctional family. It combined live-action comedy and graphics.


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