LeftyLiebowitz It was okay. I just wish Edison had put more effort into convincing CGI.

MartinHafer I would consider "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots" to be one of the earliest exploitational films. It has very little merit or substance and was made simply to shock audiences--and according to IMDb, it did! The film is only about 15-20 seconds long! It consists of a lady laying her head on the chopping block and the executioner hacking her head off and showing it to the onlookers. However, it isn't at all historically accurate--as they did not use an axe but a French Sword for such executions and it would have been done on the grounds of the Tower of London and there would have been a scaffold. Additionally, it took a couple swings to mostly sever her head and the remaining sinew needed to be cut with a sharp knife!! In the film, there was just a quick swing of the blade.So, what we have is a mostly historically inaccurate production. In some ways, being inaccurate was better as the real execution was a bloody mess! But it's interesting simply to see what passed as entertainment in the very early days of cinema.

Mikko_Elo_ all right, the execution of mary, queen of scots is certainly not the prettiest of the edison labs. films. i'm not keen on executions nor bad camera tricks and this one delivers. still, it's the first of it's kind for both, and is therefore essential viewing for anyone seriously interested in film.now, let's get realistic for a second here. the camera trick used here is one of the first, if not the first of it's kind. apparently it shocked the audience it had in it's days, but for obvious reasons it today looks quite fake. this is also one of the first if not the first film reproducing a historical scene going for the best possible realism, a description that later became a definition for a genre. the execution wasn't very realistic historically either, though.according to IMDb it's also the first film with trained actors. it doesn't show much ;) but it's yet another merit for this film only mildly interesting in traditional sense. like it or not, the execution of mary stuart ranks high in film history. the influence it has given to countless films after it cannot be dismissed.

Lugosi31 Do yourself a favor and see this movie as soon as you can. It is a dramatic and concise film, showing Mary, Queen of Scots, lose her head. I guarantee you will never forget this EXCELLENT work of art.