The Mystery of the Man Who Invented Movies, Then Disappeared, with Paul Fischer

Pop Literacy

Thomas Edison and the French Lumiere brothers have widely been credited with inventing motion pictures, but there’s another strong contender for the distinction: Louis LePrince, a driven inventor who dedicated every moment of his life and most of his money to making moving pictures not only possible but accessible enough to be widely available—and, in the process, to change the world. But he’s never been given proper credit for the feat because, like a character in a movie, he disappeared without a trace just before he announced his completed invention in 1890.

Film producer and author Paul Fischer tells the riveting tale in his new book The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, and in this episode, he talks to us about the worldwide race to invent and perfect motion picture technology, LePrince’s utopian vision of what film would do for the world, what might have happened to LePrince—and how Edison may or may not have been involved in his disappearance.

Read more:

• The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures by Paul Fischer
• Paul Fischer
• The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
• Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by Libro.fm, A Mighty Blaze Podcast, and Daniel Paisner's upcoming novel Balloon Dog.