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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 786

The Enchanted Drawing

19001 minUnited States
ComedyFantasy
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
1:29
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · James Stuart Blackton (1875–1941) · Public domain

Synopsis

An artist sketches a man's face and adds objects that suddenly seem available outside the paper. Drawing, performance and camera tricks allow him to handle what he has just pictured, while the face responds with changing expressions. A familiar stage demonstration becomes a brief encounter between a live performer and an apparently living illustration.

Cast

DirectorsJ. Stuart Blackton

Behind the scenes

Blackton combines the stage routine known as a lightning sketch with stop-camera substitutions. The effect anticipates his later experiments with animation, while still relying on the visible presence of the artist beside his drawing.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and creditsLibrary of Congress — The Enchanted Drawing

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • J. Stuart Blackton — Stacy (New York); This image is available from the United States Library of Congress 's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c15740 . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing . · Public domain

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