The story of the invention of the motion picture and the mysterious man behind it.

In 1888, the French artist and inventor Louis Le Prince recorded the first ever moving image on film using a single lens camera of his own design. It featured members of his family moving about the garden of their home and can still be seen online.

In September 1890 he paid a visit to his brother in Dijon, France, intending after that to join his wife and family in New York where they lived. On 16th September he caught a train to Paris. He never arrived in Paris, and was never seen again.

One month later, Thomas Edison announced his own invention of a camera which could take moving pictures. At a time of fierce competition among inventors to obtain patents for their own products, the mystery of the disappearance of Louis le Prince has never been solved.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Celia de Wolff
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 Show less