When Sam Lockhart, a young gardener, is captured on film by George Albert Smith, the result alters both their lives. The year is 1896, and cinematography is in its infancy. Smith, a showman and illusionist, believes moving pictures could add to his Brighton-based theatrical acts. However, Lockhart and Smith soon gain a reputation for producing entertaining films; and by the turn of the century their short, one minute motion pictures are enjoyed throughout Europe and the United States. Sam travels to New York to find a new distributor, and is helped by Carl Laemmle, a German emigre. Laemmle foresees the future. Instead of investing his savings in a clothing store, he buys two nickelodeons--the up-and-coming picture houses of the new era. When George Smith ceases film-making, Sam returns to the United States to work for Carl Laemmle. It is then he encounters the stranglehold Thomas Edison has on small companies making moving pictures.