A growing source of silent era film information. This listing is from The Progressive Silent Film List by Carl Bennett. Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

About This Listing Report Omissions or Errors in This Listing

Soldiers at Play
(1898) United States of America
B&W : 50 feet
Directed by (unknown)

Cast: (unknown)

The W.N. Selig Company production; distributed by The W.N. Selig Company. / Premiered 16 May 1898. / [?] 35mm spherical format? / One of Selig’s earliest productions. The production was shot at Camp Tanner near Springfield, Illinois, in early May 1898. Other scenes were shot at this same time, including a scene of troops marching past the Illinois governor’s mansion.

Documentary: Actuality.

Synopsis: [From Selig promotional materials] Showing them in a game called “cock fight,” in which they hop around on one foot with their arms folded. The whole affair is very laughable and sure to provoke a great outburst of mirth.

Survival status: Print exists in the George Eastman Museum film archive.

Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].

Listing updated: 9 August 2023.

References: Leyda-Before pp. 80, 94 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.