The Widow and the Only Man is a 1904 American short silent comedy film produced by the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company and directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Sr.[1] A group of women sitting on the veranda of a resort hotel.

The film then shows their friendship progressing as they dine together, ride in a carriage together, and boat together.

A later scene shows a box of flowers being delivered to the widow, and the camera moves in to a close-up of the woman as she admires each flower and back out to show the arrival of her suitor.

The widow walks in and promptly faints when she discovers that the ribbon clerk is none other than her gallant summer beau.

It was produced and distributed by the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company.

The two first intertitles introduce the protagonists as The Only Man and The Widow, and are followed by two medium close-ups.

A maid takes off the shoes and the bathrobe of the lady next to a rowing boat.

The maid brings a box of flowers to the widow sitting in an easy chair.

The widow comes in and faints when she discovers that the ribbon clerck is her gallant summer beau.

[1] The film has been mentioned as an example of the regular "feature productions" produced by Biograph from the summer of 1904, which allowed this company to overtake the Edison Company as "America's foremost motion picture producer".

[4] It has also been stressed that his is one of the first examples where a scene filmed as a wide shot is interrupted by a close-up of the protagonist.