The first on-screen kiss: How couple's awkward embrace in front of a film camera outraged Victorian society and drew fierce response from the Vatican
- First recorded smooch shown in Thomas Edison's film 'The Kiss' in the 1800s
- Footage sparked controversy at the time as public kissing frowned upon
- 'Shocking and pornographic' embrace prompted calls for police action
The first ever on-screen kiss, recorded in the late 1800s, seems a world away from the Love Island antics of today.
But the awkward embrace between these two actors was branded as 'pornographic' after outraging Victorian-era audiences leading to a call for it to be banned by the Roman Catholic Church.
The black and white footage of the first ever recorded smooch resurfaced today on Valentine's Day, some 120 years after it was originally recorded. The video shows a couple nuzzling each other, and bizarrely exchanging conversation, while their cheeks are clamped together.
It ends with the mustachioed gentlemen flamboyantly preening his whiskers before moving in for a peck on the lips.
The film, known as The Kiss, was one of the first films ever to be shown commercially to the public, and is thought to have been projected in 1896 in Canada.
The silent movie was produced by Edison Studios, which was founded by famed American inventor Thomas Edison just two years before the film was released. It was directed by US cinematographer William Heise, who is credited for making up to 175 silent films around the 1890s.
Lasting just over 20 seconds, it depicts a re-enactment of the kiss between actors May Irwin and John Rice from the final scene of the stage musical The Widow Jones.
The kiss itself is rather peculiar as for most of its running time, the two actors in the silent film appear to talk to one another with their lips pressed together before sharing a peck at the end.
Despite being barely enough to raise an eyebrow by modern standards, Edison's The Kiss was extremely shocking to audiences of its day.
Actors May Irwin and John Rice in the final scene of stage musical, The Widow Jones. The kiss itself is peculiar as the two actors appear to talk to one another with their lips pressed together
Actor John Rice Nuzzles up to actress May Irwin for the near-entirety of the silent movie, as the pair exchanged apparently light-hearted remarks, while their faces are locked together
Actor John Rice readies his mustache before sweeping in for the controversial smooch
This lip-locking moment concludes the short black and white movie, after a John Rice flails his arms in anticipation, as his co-star May Irwin puckers up for the finale
One critic at the time wrote: 'The spectacle of the prolonged pasturing on each other's lips was beastly enough in life size on the stage but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over it is absolutely disgusting.'
The Kiss caused uproar amongst the establishment at a time when kissing in public was greatly frowned upon by Victorian society and could even lead to prosecution.
The scene was denounced as shocking and pornographic to early moviegoers and caused the Roman Catholic Church to call for censorship and moral reform.
It also drew intense criticism in many newspaper editorials, prompting calls for police action in many places where the film was being shown.
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