After its serial run, it was later shown as a feature, which makes this the oldest surviving American feature.
According to the National Film Preservation Foundation, this Vitagraph film was originally released in five parts but later was shown in a single screening, thus making it the first surviving American feature.
Contrary to what has been stated elsewhere and according to Guinness and others, this is not the first narrative feature film. It is not even considered the first American feature, that credit being given to Les Misérables (1909). The credit for first feature is given to The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) which preceded this version of Les Miserable by three years.
Shown in five successive parts: The Persecution of the Children of Israel by the Egyptians (1909); Forty Years in the Land of Midian (1909); The Plagues of Egypt and the Deliverance of the Hebrews (1909); The Victory of Israel (1909); and The Promised Land (1909).
Although originally released in five parts, its overall length makes this arguably the first narrative feature film, according to the Museum of Modern Art.