The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies

Was the man who invented cinematography kidnapped and murdered on the orders of Thomas Edison? Film producer Fischer (A Kim Jong-Il Production) raises that possibility in this fascinating portrait of 19th-century polymath Louis Le Prince. Though Edison and the Lumière brothers are widely credited with inventing movies, Le Prince beat them to the punch. In October 1888, after “four years of furious, costly work,” he filmed members of his family on their lawn in Leeds, England, using a 40-pound camera with a hand crank, then projected the “animated photographs” on his workshop wall. Two years after his breakthrough, however, Le Prince boarded a train to Paris after visiting his brother in Dijon and was never seen again. In the seven years it took before he could be legally declared dead and his family gained control of his intellectual property, Edison, a relentless self-promoter, made a fortune showing moving pictures on his Kinetoscope device. After a series of court rulings upheld Edison’s patent claims, Le Prince’s widow accused the Wizard of Menlo Park of having her husband killed; more recently, film scholars have contended that Le Prince died by suicide. Fischer points the finger at another culprit while admitting that the case may never be solved. Vivid character sketches, lyrical descriptions of the art and science of moviemaking, and a dramatic plot twist make this a must-read. (Apr.)