Silent Shorts
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- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFélicien TreweyThe transformation of the same character in six different characters. A vision of the act of transformation.
- DirectorP.J.C. JanssenSeries of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.
- DirectorEadweard MuybridgeIndividual photographs of the running of a buffalo shot in rapid succession.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyIn this early film experiment a wave crashes against a jagged rock.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsHenry Welton"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsWilliam K.L. DicksonThe 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 men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudPre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyA cat falls down and lands on its feet.
- DirectorLouis LumièreWorkers 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.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsAnnabelle MooreAnnabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsAuguste LumièreMrs. Auguste LumiereAndrée LumièreAs 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.
- DirectorWilliam HeiseStarsMay IrwinJohn C. RiceIn a medium close-up shot of the first kiss ever recorded on screen, two fervent lovers cuddle and talk passionately at hair's breadth, just before the love-smitten gentleman decides to give his chosen one an innocent peck.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsOctavie HuvierGaston MélièsGeorges MélièsIn what is considered to be the first remake in the history of cinema, the grand French director, Georges Méliès, directs his very first short film, influenced by the Lumière Brothers' original story in "Partie d'écarté (1896)".
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJeanne BradyJehanne d'AlcyThe first film to ever show a nudity scene on screen is a simple presentation of a servant preparing a bath for another woman.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreAlexandre PromioA train is leaving a railway station at the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the very end of the train a barren, rocky landscape is seen, and some ruins of very old buildings,. Five men walk along the track, tipping their hats when the train departs. When it approaches the station building more people are seen, people of different ethnicity and religion. Some men wear fezzes on their heads and canes in their hands. A Franciscan monk comes walking in the middle of a mixed group of people. The platform outside the station is crowded with people waiting for the next train. Among them is a man with a sword at his side. The big windows of the station are covered with shutters. After the station the train passes a long fence, enclosing a lumberyard.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA skeleton dances joyously, often collapsing into a heap of bones and quickly putting itself back together.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAn astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyGeorge Albert SmithA 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsA devil conjures up a dancing woman from a mystical flame.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsBleuette BernonJeanne CalvièreJehanne d'AlcyA divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred after she is captured.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAs 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsAndré DeedThe funniest of all mystical pictures yet produced. Several body parts of a dancing clown float away from his body and come back again.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA Brahmin comes upon a giant caterpillar, which turns into a cross between a butterfly and a girl: the Brahmin finally turns into a caterpillar.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsGulliver 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.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLinda ArvidsonJohn R. CumpsonFlora FinchSet in an early cinema house, this comic short illustrates the problems with the gals' hats obscuring the movie patron's line of vision.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA British trick film in which a motorist ends up driving around the rings of Saturn.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsWith a brand-new deck of playing cards in his hand, an elegantly-attired thaumaturge, by fire and the pure power of illusion, transforms a plain nine of spades card into a full-size Queen of Hearts.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAs we are treated with a rare appearance from a true master of the miraculous Asian thaumaturgy, a fine display of multiplication commences, and a serene young geisha completes the enchantment. What does the Chinese conjurer have in mind?
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThe leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthPercy StowStarsMay ClarkCecil M. HepworthBlairThis is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonA.C. AbadieGeorge BarnesA group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- DirectorUb IwerksWalt DisneyStarsWalt DisneyMickey Mouse is a mischievous deckhand on a riverboat that is under the command of the tyrannical Captain Pete.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsMarguerite ThévenardBleuette BernonIn this spectacular free adaptation of the popular theatre play "La Biche au Bois", the valiant Prince Bel-Azor pursues a baleful old witch to her impregnable castle, to save the beautiful young Princess Azurine.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczMr Beetle seeks companionship from a statuesque dragonfly dancer, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, a slender grasshopper and an industrious cameraman, watches their every move. Will Mrs Beetle forgive him? Will he get away with adultery?
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFrank PowellGrace HendersonJames KirkwoodAn unscrupulous and greedy capitalist speculator decides to corner the wheat market for his own profit, establishing complete control over the markets.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsIn 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAs an elegant maestro of mirage and delusion drapes his beautiful female assistant with a gauzy textile, much to our amazement, the lady vanishes into thin air.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsMuch to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAt a solitary cheap inn, a distant traveller overcome with fatigue has a close encounter with the supernatural.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo demons throw helpless captives into a boiling cauldron, and then try to summon forth their spirits.
- DirectorMillard MercuryStarsEwing TordellaEdith TrublanchetA humongous and obese anthropomorphic swine dressed like a fine gentleman in a fancy dinner attire tries to make a pass at a solitary lady having a picnic.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo travelers are tormented by Satan from inn to inn and eventually experience a buggy ride through the heavens courtesy of the Devil.