Feature film

A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term feature film originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinee programs, especially in the US and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on weekends.

The first narrative feature film was the 60-minute The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906, Australia).[1] Other early feature films include Les Misérables (1909, U.S.), L'Inferno, Defence of Sevastopol (1911), Oliver Twist (American version), Oliver Twist (British version), Richard III, From the Manger to the Cross, Cleopatra (1912), Quo Vadis? (1913), Cabiria (1914) and The Birth of a Nation (1915).

  1. ^ "The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)". Australian Screen. Retrieved May 26, 2014.