Early Cinema
by EduMatia | created - 11 Jan 2012 | updated - 12 Jan 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
In the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | Stars: Annie Hartley, Adolphe Le Prince, Joseph Whitley, Sarah Whitley
Votes: 6,792
2. Blacksmith Scene (1893)
Unrated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Charles Kayser, John Ott
Votes: 2,768
3. Carmencita (1894)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Performing on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Carmencita
Votes: 2,048
4. Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Music
The earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two ... See full summary »
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: William K.L. Dickson
Votes: 2,561
5. Leaving the Factory (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Workers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 7,547
6. Rough Sea at Dover (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
The sea is quite rough, and at Dover a series of heavy waves pounds against a pier and along the adjacent shoreline. The scene then shifts to a different view of flowing water, and shows a heavy current from a point along a riverbank.
Directors: Birt Acres, Robert W. Paul
Votes: 891
7. The Arrival of a Train (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
A train arrives at La Ciotat station.
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière | Stars: Madeleine Koehler, Marcel Koehler, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière
Votes: 12,863
8. Baby's Meal (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
As part of a maiden public film screening at the Salon Indien, on December 28, in Paris, Auguste Lumière pivots the centre of attention around his baby daughter, as he tries to feed her from a spoon.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Auguste Lumière, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Andrée Lumière
Votes: 3,513
9. The Waterer Watered (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
An impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: François Clerc, Benoît Duval
Votes: 5,841
10. The House of the Devil (1896)
Not Rated | 3 min | Short, Horror
With the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Jules-Eugène Legris, Georges Méliès
Votes: 3,975
11. Salida de misa de doce del Pilar de Zaragoza (1897)
Documentary, Short
Short documentary where people come out of a church in Zaragoza.
Director: Eduardo Jimeno
Votes: 156
12. A Nightmare (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Horror
In this fantastic scene, a man who is eager to retire has a difficult time finding peace, as his nocturnal illusions come to life out of thin air.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,982
13. Demolition of a Wall (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière | Star: Auguste Lumière
Votes: 2,768
14. Bataille de neige (1897)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy
People start a snowball fight on a street in Lyons, France.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,991
15. The Temptation of St. Anthony (1898)
1 min | Short, Drama, Fantasy
The pious St. Anthony is tormented by visions of seductive women.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 994
16. Santa Claus (1898)
1 min | Short, Family, Fantasy
Brother and sister are sent to bed on Christmas Eve, and while they are asleep, Santa Claus comes down the chimney and fills their waiting stockings with toys.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, Dorothy Smith, Harold Smith
Votes: 1,064
17. Four Heads Are Better Than One (1898)
TV-PG | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Much to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 4,011
18. The Astronomer's Dream; or, the Man in the Moon (1898)
Not Rated | 3 min | Short, Comedy, Fantasy
An astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 4,720
19. A Kiss in the Tunnel (I) (1899)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A humorous subject intended to be run as a part of a railroad scene during the period in which the train is passing through a tunnel.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,693
20. L'affaire Dreyfus (1899)
13 min | Short, Biography, Drama
Dramatized re-enactments of the events of the Dreyfus-affair from 1894 to 1899.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 705
21. Cinderella (1899)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Drama, Family
A fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out?
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Mlle Barral, Bleuette Bernon, Carmelli, Jehanne d'Alcy
Votes: 1,805
22. The Sign of the Cross (1899)
Not Rated | 3 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Satan appears in a convent and takes the guise of a priest. Before long he is causing all manner of perturbation and despair.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,347
23. The One-Man Band (1900)
Not Rated | 2 min | Short, Comedy, Music
A band-leader assembles an orchestra by mystifying means.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 2,500
24. The Enchanted Drawing (1900)
2 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A cartoonist defies reality when he draws objects that become three-dimensional after he lifts them off his sketch pad.
Director: J. Stuart Blackton | Star: J. Stuart Blackton
Votes: 1,413
25. Joan of Arc (1900)
Not Rated | 10 min | Short, Drama, History
A divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred after she is captured.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Bleuette Bernon, Jeanne Calvière, Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,431
26. Going to Bed with Difficulties (1900)
Not Rated | 2 min | Comedy, Short, Fantasy
As if by magic, a weary traveller trying to undress, is foiled by his mutinous clothes as they teleport and multiply before his eyes, refusing to stay on the clothing rack.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 840
27. The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match (1901)
Not Rated | 2 min | Short, Comedy
Right in front of our very eyes, two attractive and feminine women metamorphose into two professional wrestlers who begin a no-holds-barred wrestling match.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,163
28. Grandma's Reading Glass (1900)
2 min | Short, Family
A boy looks through glasses at various objects, seen magnified.
Director: George Albert Smith | Star: Harold Smith
Votes: 1,368
29. The Trick Cyclist (1901)
2 min | Short, Comedy, Sport
Shows a tramp enter and try to ride a wheel, from which he makes some very ludicrous falls and gives up in despair, after which an artist enters and jumps rope on a wheel. A very laughable subject.
Director: Thomas A. Edison
Votes: 138
30. A Photographic Contortion (1901)
1 min | Comedy, Short
A man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera and cinematographer. He steps back, chews, and grins.
Director: James Williamson | Star: Sam Dalton
Votes: 2,089
31. Bluebeard (1901)
TV-MA | 12 min | Short, Horror
A young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Jehanne d'Alcy, Bleuette Bernon, Thomas White
Votes: 1,877
32. History of a Crime (1901)
5 min | Short, Crime, Drama
A burglar is arrested for a murder. He is condemned to death. Before his execution the murderer dreams of his past, of how he was a bank clerk, then turned to crime. The criminal is then ... See full summary »
Director: Ferdinand Zecca | Stars: Jean Liézer, Bretteau, Ferdinand Zecca
Votes: 780
33. L'homme à la tête en caoutchouc (1901)
TV-14 | 3 min | Short, Comedy, Fantasy
A chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 3,175
34. Gulliver's Travels (1902)
Not Rated | 4 min | Short, Fantasy
Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput, the inhabitants of which are no more than six inches tall. He later travels to Brobdingnag, a country populated by giants.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 965
35. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,720
36. Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1902)
Not Rated | 2 min | Comedy, Short
Country rube thinks what he sees on the movie screen is real. He jumps out of his seat to try to stop a kissing scene.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Star: Charles Manley
Votes: 802
37. The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903)
Unrated | 1 min | Comedy, Short
A woman being fitted for shoes exposes her ankle to the shoe clerk, who is intrigued. He kisses her, but her chaperone hits him with her umbrella.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Star: Edward Boulden
Votes: 1,183
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