The Kiss (1896 film)

The Kiss also known as The May Irwin Kiss, The RiceIrwin Kiss and The Widow Jones is an 1896 actuality, and was one of the first films ever shown commercially to the public. The film is aroundseconds long, and depicts a reenactment of the kiss between May Irwin and John Rice from the final scene of the stage musical, The Widow Jones.

The film contained the very first kiss on film, with a closeup of a nuzzling couple followed by a short peck on the lips the mysteries of the kiss revealed. The kissing scene was denounced as shocking and obscene to early moviegoers and caused the Roman Catholic Church to call for censorship and moral reform because kissing in public at the time could lead to prosecution.The film caused a scandalized uproar and occasioned disapproving newspaper editorials and calls for police action in many places where it was shown. One contemporary critic wrote The spectacle of the prolonged pasturing on each others lips was beastly enough in life size on the stage but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over it is absolutely disgusting. ........

Source: Wikipedia