Customer Reviews

History of US Presidents: William Mckinley - The 20th Century's First Tragedy DVD

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I was expecting a documentary providing some insight on the late President and general information about President McKinley. I was disappointed because this is a series of old film footage put on a DVD but no narration. I feel this product would have been much better if there was some narration added to the very old footage. Although the film footage is well done (remember this footage was taken in the 1890s-1901). If I had known exactly what the product was I would not have bought it.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time trying to track down some of the oldest film footage I can find to check out the way that people saw the camera and the nature of film while the medium was being invented. Like the Edison films that come from a similar era, the quality of the clips here is rough and jumble, which makes sense given that they were filmed in the late 1800s. What makes it worth it is t hinking about the filming of an American president's funeral more than 100 years ago - in fact McKinley was the first president ever to be filmed, and it is sad that these clips were preserved mostly because he was the first president to be assasinated in the 20th century. The films here are very reminisant of JFK and RFK post assasinatin footage from the 1960s, except silent and in black and white.

Ok, I have to admit that if you are looking for some of the sharpest looking films you have ever seen that this is not for you.

The footage here was shot in the 1800s and it shows in that the stock is grainy - though it has clearly gone through a decent restoration process, film from this era was not meant to last that long.

That said, the footage itself is amazing. It has both the inauguration and funeral of McKinley - the first actual recording of a united states president and for that the historical value alone is enourmous.

I found it fascinating.