Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses
Alleged silent black-and-white short film shot at Apsley Gate, Hyde Park, London. It was claimed to be the first motion picture until pre-dating footage shot by Louis Le Prince was discovered. It was never publicly shown and is now considered a lost film with no known surviving prints or stills.
From the archive
Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses (also known as Hyde Park Corner) is a 1889 British short silent actuality film, shot by inventor and film pioneer William Friese-Greene. The film depicts life at Hyde Park Corner in London. Hyde Park Corner is claimed to be the first film set in London, as well as the first to be filmed on celluloid, although Louis Le Prince successfully shot on glass plate before 18 August 1887, and on paper negative in October 1888. It may nonetheless be the first moving picture film on celluloid and the first shot in London. It was shown mainly to several photographic journalists who saw it during his lifetime—including Thomas Bedding, J. Hay Taylor and Theodore Brown. It is now considered a lost film with only 6 possible frames surviving today. Watch on RetroFlix.org: https://retroflix.org/leisurely-pedestrians-open-topped-buses-and-hansom-cabs-with-trotting-horses-1889/
Why this is free to watch
Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses (1889) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- William Friese-Greene
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