Cinema’s first kiss

A kiss might seem somewhat ordinary now, but back in 1896, it was daring enough to make history.

That year, Thomas Edison’s studios tossed conformity aside and filmed a kiss that would shake Victorian society.

“The Kiss,” an 18-second film directed by William Heise, wasn’t groundbreaking for its plot or visuals but for daring to show two actors—May Irwin and John C. Rice—kissing. Re-enacting the closing scene of the popular Broadway play The Widow Jones, the film captured an act so intimate it made moralists mad.

One critic slammed it as “beastly” and “absolutely disgusting,” while the Roman Catholic Church demanded censorship. Public opinion flickered between shock and fascination, but the controversy only fueled the film’s popularity. Audiences couldn’t resist looking at this forbidden moment—and paying for the thrill.

More than just a moment of rebellion, “The Kiss” proved cinema’s power to challenge norms. It wasn’t just two actors sharing a kiss—it was the start of storytelling that dared to provoke, question, and connect.

Back then, motion pictures were a novel invention, experienced through Edison’s Kinetoscope—a peephole contraption where individuals could watch films one at a time. Imagine leaning into a box only to witness what you’d been told your whole life was indecent. It was thrilling, rebellious and taboo, people loved it! 

But was it really cinema’s first kiss?

A few years earlier, Eadweard Muybridge had captured two women kissing in a moving picture experiment. Yet, unlike The Kiss, it didn’t stir controversy. Perhaps because society was indifferent to women’s sexuality, it simply slipped by unnoticed.

So this Valentine’s Day, remember: what feels ordinary now was once revolutionary.

How many movies have you loved that don’t contain a kiss?