Oldest Films in the History
by Insane_Man | created - 22 Jan 2019 | updated - 8 months ago | Public- Genres
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1. 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: 2,052
2. Le clown et ses chiens (1892)
5 min | Animation, Short
Lost short film consisting of 300 painted images. It shows a clown entering a circus ring and greeting the audience before he starts to perform tricks with three dogs. The dogs jump through hoops, walk on a ball and jump over a wand.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 275
3. Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
TV-PG | 5 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
One night, Arlequin come to see his lover Colombine. But then Pierrot knocks at the door and Colombine and Arlequin hide. Pierrot starts singing but Arlequin scares him and the poor man goes away.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 2,006
4. Un bon bock (1892)
12 min | Animation, Short
Lost 1892 French short animated film directed by Émile Reynaud about a wanderer who orders a good beer ("Un bon bock") and meets a traveler who also orders a beer. They enter an argument because a kitchen boy steals their beers.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 179
5. 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: 2,771
7. Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph (1894)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Sport
James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney meet in a boxing exhibition.
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Stars: James J. Corbett, Peter Courtney
Votes: 859
8. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Fred Ott
Votes: 2,194
9. Miss Jerry (1894)
45 min | Romance
The adventures of a female reporter in the 1890s.
Director: Alexander Black | Stars: Blanche Bayliss, William Courtenay, Chauncey Depew
Votes: 211
10. 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: 7,555
11. Akrobatisches Potpourri (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
The fifth sequence of the "Wintergartenprogramm (1895)" by the Skladanowsky Brothers. In it, eight circus performers known as the Grunato Family perform their famous balancing act.
Director: Max Skladanowsky | Star: Grunato
Votes: 388
12. 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: 12,875
13. The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
The photographers who need to participate in the congress of Lyon get off a boat in Neuville-sur-Saône, dividing to the right and left.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Auguste Lumière, P.J.C. Janssen
Votes: 1,964
14. 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: 5,845
15. Autour d'une cabine (1894)
2 min | Animation, Short
Pre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 1,172
16. Boat Leaving the Port (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Three men in a rowboat are leaving the harbor.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière
Votes: 1,576
17. Italienischer Bauerntanz (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
The first sequence of the "Wintergartenprogramm (1895)" by the Skladanowsky Brothers. In it, two children, Ploetz and Larella, perform an Italian peasant dance.
Directors: Emil Skladanowsky, Max Skladanowsky | Stars: Ploetz, Larella
Votes: 346
18. Das boxende Känguruh (1895)
1 min | Short
The third sequence of the "Wintergartenprogramm (1895)" by the Skladanowsky Brothers. In it, a man and a kangaroo stand up in front of each other with boxing gloves, and simulate a boxing match on a theatre stage.
Director: Max Skladanowsky | Star: Delaware
Votes: 627
19. The Derby 1895 (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
A stationary camera, looking diagonally across a racetrack toward the infield, records the horses as they race past. Once they are out of view and the race is over, police officers run onto the infield. The crowd moves around.
Director: Birt Acres
Votes: 379
20. Blacksmith Scene (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Two blacksmiths work while the vapors rise in the air. Later, another man arrives and offers a drink.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,145
21. The Sea (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Several little boys run along a pier, then jump into the ocean.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,508
22. Opening of the Kiel Canal (1895)
1 min | Short, News
Director: Birt Acres | Stars: Empress Augusta Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II
Votes: 132
23. The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race (1896)
Short, News, Sport
Although the content of this film is primitive in the extreme - a shot of the traditional Oxford versus Cambridge University Boat Race, filmed on March 30 1895 - this film is of immense ... See full summary »
Director: Birt Acres
Votes: 44
24. The Messers. Lumière at Cards (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Two men play cards, as a third watches and a waiter brings drinks. The third man pours drinks as the waiter laughs.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Antoine Féraud, Antoine Lumière, Félicien Trewey, Alphonse Winckler
Votes: 1,609
25. Cordeliers' Square in Lyon (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A stationary camera looks across the boulevard at a diagonal toward one corner of Lyon's Cordeliers' Square. It's a long shot, with a great deal of depth of focus. We can see the sky and ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,209
26. Fishing for Goldfish (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A baby held by his father dips his little hands into a water jug and he can' t catch the goldfish .
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Andrée Lumière, Auguste Lumière
Votes: 1,137
27. 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: 3,514
28. Jumping the Blanket (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Outdoors, with a nondescript building in the background, four men stand, each holding the corner of a blanket stretched parallel to the ground. They wear the clothes of laborers. By the ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,050
29. 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: 893
30. Die Serpentintänzerin (1895)
1 min | Short
The seventh sequence of the "Wintergartenprogramm (1895)" by the Skladanowsky Brothers. In it, a young female dancer with large, flowing robes, swirls round herself quickly, making her light robe flow around her like a butterfly's wings.
Director: Max Skladanowsky | Star: Ancion
Votes: 436
31. Horse Trick Riders (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy
A man tries to get on a horse , but he climbs to one side and falls from the other, until he manages to stay in balance.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,079
32. Arrivée d'un train gare de Vincennes (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
This lost film presumably features a train arriving at Vincennes station.
Director: Georges Méliès
Votes: 230
33. Awakening of Rip (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The seventh of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip awakes from his slumber, having significantly aged during his sleep.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 622
34. The Ball Game (1898)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
"The Reading's [Pennsylvania] pitcher has just let a Newark [New Jersey] batsman walk to first. Our camera is stationed about twenty feet from the bag, and the satisfied grin of the runner ... See full summary »
Director: William Heise | Stars: Scoops Carey, Zane Grey, Scott Stratton
Votes: 213
35. Bataille de neige (1897)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy
People start a snowball fight on a street in Lyons, France.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,995
36. Ruraux au galop (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
In three successive waves, civil guard riders quickly cross the plain.
Director: Gabriel Veyre
Votes: 114
37. 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: 2,770
38. Feira de Gado na Corujeira (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Campinos on horseback drive small herds of cattle through the vast area of the traditional fair, before prospective buyers.
Director: Aurélio da Paz dos Reis
Votes: 97
39. Rip Passing Over the Mountain (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Fantasy
The eighth and final of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, an elderly Rip crosses the mountain.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 550
40. Rip's Toast (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The first of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, two men - one of them being Rip himself - toast and enjoy their drinks.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 566
41. 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: 4,730
42. 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: 1,438
43. The End of the World (1916)
77 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A comet, passing by Earth, causes rioting, social unrest, and major disasters that destroy the world.
Director: August Blom | Stars: Olaf Fønss, Carl Lauritzen, Ebba Thomsen, Johanne Fritz-Petersen
Votes: 418
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