Serpentine Dance by Annabelle (1896) User Reviews

Worth Seeing, & Differs Somewhat From the Edison Version

[Snow Leopard · 8 July 2005]

This 1896 version of "Annabelle Serpentine Dance" is the remake that W.K.L. Dickson modeled after the Edison feature, after Dickson had moved to the new American Mutoscope studio. The 1895 Edison version is the better of the two, but like most of the numerous movies of Annabelle (Whitford) Moore's dance routines, this one is worth seeing, and there are a few small differences between it and the Edison movie.

The basic routine is pretty much the same as in the original, but in this one Annabelle twirls around more frequently, rather than mainly maneuvering her long skirts. From the floor pattern, you can also tell that this one was not produced in Edison's 'Black Maria' studio.

The most significant difference, though, is that the Edison version had very nicely done hand-tinted color, and added to Annabelle's dancing, it produced a pleasing and almost hypnotic effect. This one is filmed completely in black-and-white. So it's not quite as eye- catching as the earlier version, but it's still worth a look.

Serpentine dances are a common theme and always enjoyable

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 12 October 2013]

Especially if they're hand-colored like the later ones. Quite a few of these star Annabelle Moore doing different dances and she turned into a bit of a favorite for the masses and even more importantly, for early silent film pioneer William K.L. Dickson. This kind of dance usually is kinda contagious and I feel the urge to crawl into my screen and join her tripping, jumping and dancing. The dress is mesmerizing as always with all the beautiful shapes it turns into. The real icing to the cake would be the color though and those that have it are usually way superior to those that don't. Now the only thing missing is sound and we can join Annabelle and the others in their elegant grooving.

What happened to the top half of Annabelle's head?

[cricket30 · 4/10 · 29 March 2013]

Supposedly there are thousands of these kinetoscope (=1890s peep show) films floating around out there that nobody's had space to cram onto a DVD yet. Therefore, it is surprising that this particular 25.85 seconds of infamy featuring the Lindsay Lohan of her day, Annabelle Whitford, has seen the light of day, since filmmaker William Kennedy Laurium (W.K.L.) Dickson barely manages to keep her entire had "in frame" for ANY frame of this flick! Are the DVD people intentionally messing with this American Mutoscope Company offering in a belated attempt to make Edison Manufacturing look "good" by contrast? Is the pot calling the kettle "black?" Dickson was an Edison defector (due, no doubt, to the slave wages Edison paid to everyone except his copyright lawyers, who were successful in putting most of his competitors out of business; it would be as if Disney could get SHREK and ICE AGE yanked off the screen because SLEEPING BEAUTY got there first!). If Edison exists today in some alternate universe, I can picture him sitting in a vast gloomy concrete screening chamber, watching this particular short all by himself a trillion times in a row, forlornly mumbling "Rosebud, Rosebud."

Serpentine Dance by Annabelle (1896)

[Michael_Elliott · 21 September 2018]

Serpentine Dance by Annabelle (1896)

Some people might watch a film like this today and not see what the big deal is but a lot of these early movies would go to popular performers at the time and make them do their act in front of the camera. Annabelle Moore was known for her serpentine dance and that's exactly what we get to see here. As an added note, the film was also hand colored to give it even more beauty. Of all the films that were made during the 1890's this one here has remained one of the most popular and it's easy to see why. Being able to see an actual performance by a now forgotten star is great on its own but the hand coloring is just another major plus.