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April 1898: The Blessed Biograph
Another piece of cinematic history was made in April 1898, when Biograph cameraman W. K. L Dickson managed to secure a series of films of Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican. The pope had fought shy of photographers for the best part of a decade, so it was no small feat for Dickson to secure the pictures after months of negotiations. It was actually a number of Roman Catholic prelates who, having been impressed by both the Biograph and its films of famous personages, such as President McKinley, approached the Biograph Company with the idea of filming the pope. Naturally, the film company jumped at the chance, and Dickson, with letters of recommendation, travelled to Rome early in the year with cameraman Emile Lauste to open negotiations. During April and May, Dickson filmed twelve scenes of the pope, two of which actually featured him blessing the camera/audience. Five years later Gianni Bettini would record the pope's voice on cylinder, thus earning Pope Leo the improbable accolade of being the first ever personality to be recorded in both sound and image. [ADD]
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