Watch Rector's to Claremont

This picture remains one of the mystery films in The Museum of Modern Art's collection of Edison negatives. Though often dated 1903, this film probably made in the summer of 1904 or even the summer of 1905. Never released commercially, it was almost certainly commissioned by a showman, perhaps to be projected as part of a stage play, bridging two acts. Rector's on Broadway was one of New York's most popular restaurants. A man falls off a tally-ho and gives chase all the way uptown, passing by Grant's Tomb.