TSPDT Starting List (Silent Era)
by hassan-ahmadi | created - 16 Dec 2013 | updated - 10 months ago | 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: 6,803
Ranking 6786
Production Co: Whitley Partners
Country: United Kingdom - France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Original length: 4.33 seconds, 52 frames at 12fps
"A dedicated inventor, Louis Le Prince started experimenting with film as early as 1881, and by October 1888, he captured on film what would become the world's first motion picture: a family scene in a garden of Roundhay, Leeds, during his time in England. The now legendary 2 seconds short features his son Adolphe walking across the garden while the family of Le Prince's wife, the Whitleys, move on the backgroun. Cinema was born in that garden." - Luis Rivera, W-Cinema
Featured in: The First Film (2015)
2. Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Votes: 3,299
Ranking 21990
Production Co: Whitley Partners
Country: United Kingdom - France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 2 sec
"For his second experiment, Le Prince went to Leeds Bridge, and shot a 2 seconds of the traffic crossing the bridge. The carriages pulled by horses are captured by Le Prince's camera in what could be considered as the very first documentary in history. Despite its extremely short runtime, this movie is quite interesting as it's a small glimpse to life in the late Victorian era, almost like a time machine to a past that now, more than 100 years later feels very distant." - Luis Rivera, W-Cinema
Featured in: The First Film (2015)
3. Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
One of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Star: Giuseppe Sacco Albanese
Votes: 1,648
Ranking 6568
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Experimental, Short
Runtime: 27 sec
"The "Monkeyshines" films were three experimental movies shot in the Edison laboratories in order to test Kinetograph, a camera invented to shot the movies that would appear in the Kinetoscope. With the collaboration of William Heise, Dickson shot one of Edison's workers in front of the camera doing gestures and movements.. While it was never released to the public, "Monkeyshines, No. 1" is indeed the very first movie shot in the United States, marking the birth of the Kinetoscope and the beginning of the age of cinema as entertainment." - Luis Rivera, W-Cinema
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
4. Newark Athlete (1891)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
An athlete swings Indian clubs.
Director: William K.L. Dickson
Votes: 1,816
Ranking 22512
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: W. K. L. Dickson & William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Experimental, Short
Runtime: 12 sec at 16 fps
"Produced May-June 1891, this experimental film was one of the first made in America at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, N.J. The filmmakers were W.K.L. Dickson and William Heise, both of whom were employed as inventors and engineers in the industrial research facility owned by Thomas Edison. Heise and especially Dickson made important technical contributions during 1891-1893, leading to the invention of the world’s first successful motion picture camera - the Edison Kinetograph - and to the playback device required for viewing early peepshow films - the Edison Kinetoscope" - Library of Congress
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
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
Ranking 22402
AKA: Blacksmithing Scene
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Short
Runtime: 30 sec at 24 fps
"Not blacksmiths but employees of the Edison Manufacturing Company, Charles Kayser, John Ott and another unidentified man are likely the first screen actors in history, and 'Blacksmith Scene' is thought to be the first film of more than a few feet to be publicly exhibited. The 30-second film was photographed in late April 1893 by Edison's key employee, W.K.L. Dickson, at the new Edison studio in New Jersey. On May 9, audiences lined up single file at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences to peer through a viewing machine called a kinetoscope where glowed images of a blacksmith and two helpers forging a piece of iron, but only after they'd first passed around a bottle of beer. A Brooklyn newspaper reported the next day, 'It shows living subjects portrayed in a manner to excite wonderment.'" - Library of Congress
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
6. 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: 2,563
Ranking 13234
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Experimental, Short
Runtime: 21 sec at 30 fps
"This short film is the world's first known experiment in producing a motion picture with a recorded synchronized sound track. Although the kinetophone combined recorded sound with moving pictures, even approximate synchronization was elusive. Still, Dickson and his crew pursued serious efforts in this direction, in this case simultaneously photographing the image and recording the sound (note the gramophone horn on the left). The R (for Raff and Gammon) that appears in the scene suggests that someone may have felt this film had commercial potential; so far as is known, however, it was never shown publicly. The musical selection, performed by Dickson himself, is from the opera The Chimes at Midnight by Jean Robert Planquette." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
7. Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Annabelle Moore
Votes: 998
Ranking 17559
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 22 sec at 30 fps
"Annabelle Whitford, known as Peerless Annabelle, had her debut at the Columbia Exposition in Chicago. Although hardly a stage star on the order of Carmencita, films of her performances proved popular and the negatives wore out quickly, which meant that she appeared frequently before Edison’s cameras between 1894 and 1898, executing Butterfly, Serpentine and Sun dances. These films were frequently hand-tinted." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
8. Fire Rescue Scene (1894)
1 min | Drama, Short
"Firemen in working uniform, rubber coats, helmets, and boots. Thrilling rescue from burning building. Smoke effects are fine." - from the Edison Catalog
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise
Votes: 623
Ranking 17561
AKA: Fire Rescue
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Drama, Short
Runtime: 20 sec at 40 fps
"This Kinetoscope short may be considered for the title of 'the first disaster movie.' Apparently shot in the Black Maria, it gives us a tableaux of three firemen saving children from a burning building. It’s worth noting that in the late nineteenth century volunteer firemen were often idolized as heroes and seen as appropriate centers of dramatic narrative. The opportunity to show them in action was no doubt a draw for the kinetoscope parlors." - Century Film Project
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
9. 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
Ranking 22490
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runntime: 3 sec at 30 fps
"Initially considered a comic novelty for the way it used technical innovation to make much ado about nothing, the title of this film succinctly informs us of its content. The filming of an entire action from conflict to resolution, although only a few seconds in duration, gives the movie a kind of narrative structure. One reason this documentary is associated with comedy is that the subject’s loss of bodily control, a condition that theorist Henri Bergson described as 'something mechanical encrusted upon the living,' makes Ott a comic figure.. According to silent film historian Luke McKernan, 'in later years Fred Ott was happy to claim that he was the first ever ‘film star,’ which in a way was true'." - Frank Scheide, A Companion to Film Comedy
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
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
Ranking 1049
AKA: Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"One day in March 1895, around noon, the doors of the Lumière factory in Lyon open. Before them, on the opposite sidewalk, a new invention: the cinematograph. What does the Lumiere Brothers say this day? Go ahead! action! No testimony, no archive, just the uneven gesture: [The workers leaving the factory would have seen some of the earlier attempts at making moving pictures. Knowing exactly what is going on, they act up for the camera.] The adventure of the cinematograph begins: 17 meter of film, 35 mm of width, 50 seconds of an eternity which lasts still. Since then, chemim Saint-Victor has become the first movie street, and the first character in the history of cinema is the crowd, it's the people." - Thierry Frémaux, Lumière!
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015) [Movie shown in three versions]
11. 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
Ranking 3014
AKA: Boat Leaving the Port
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"Two women and two children watch as three men in a rowboat leave the shore to bob and sway in the breaking waves. Just before the shot comes to an end, the movement of the sea causes the boat to lurch to the left. What happens to the rowers? We will never know. Barque sortant du port is exemplary of the cinema’s power to capture fleeting moments. Here, the filmic medium and the ocean – united by inhuman animus and a penchant for flux – conspire against anthropocentrism. No longer separate from nature, and certainly not its master, the human is dwarfed by the unruly, intractable contingency of the water." - Punto de Vista Festival
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
12. 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
Ranking 3354
AKA: Baby's Meal
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"For the first films they made, the Lumiere Brothers used their cinematograph as they would a still camera. The variety of subjects they chose, including taking close-ups of people, was also similar to still photography. Here, Louis Lumiere films his brother Auguste and family. Early audiences were just as fascinated by the realism of the moving leaves in the background as they were by the people moving. Many would have already seen convincing painting of people moving, in the phenakistiscopes and zoetropes, but not of the fine detail like the foliage. [Film historians often jokingly refer to this film as the first 'home movie,' as it depicts the filmmaker's home life in a documentary fashion, without any attempt at narrative contrivances.]" - Barry Salt, BFI
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
13. 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
Ranking 6129
AKA: The Sprinkler Sprinkled | The Waterer Watered
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Comedy, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"While L’Arroseur arrosé is primarily a cinematic depiction of a gag, there is enough of a rudimentary plot to characterize this film as a comic narrative. Because the gardener possesses a 'mark of the ridiculous' – an incapacity for ascertaining why a hose might not function, the capacity for becoming curious, and the capability to peer foolishly into a nozzle that can douse him with water – he is susceptible to becoming the victim (comic butt) of a practical joke. When the boy (comic wit) recognizes the gardener's mark of the ridiculous he exploits this deficiency by stepping on the hose, which sets the comic narrative into play. The incongruity of the loss of control suffered by the gardener while sprayed makes this situation humorous." - Frank Scheide, A Companion to Film Comedy
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015) [Movie shown in two versions]
14. Bocal aux poissons-rouges (1895)
1 min | Short, Documentary
No.18 in the Lumière catalogue really stands out. Most of their films were long shots of people in everyday situations, usually in a diagonal composition. So these poor fish did not have ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 477
Ranking 16505
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"[From the beginning of cinema, operators looked for new, novel, abstract points of view, launching several decades of experimental cinema.] Shown in atypical close-up, the Lumières' masterful short captures numerous goldfish swimming about a large bowl, dashing in and out of its light and shadow against the backdrop of some intriguing reflections, dazzling the viewer’s eye dynamically as they do so." - Iain Stott, A Thousand Nights in the Dark
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
15. 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
Ranking 16527
AKA: The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"During the congress of French Photography Societies taking place in Lyon, on June 11, 1895, the delegates took a boat trip on the Saône, going up about fifteen kilometers to Neuville-sur-Saône where Louis Lumière filmed their landing on the Pasteur quay. The next day, the film was screened at the end of the closing session of the congress, in the Monnier salons (place Bellecour in Lyon). The informative content of the film characterizes it as the first "news" of cinema, the ancestor of the television news." - Catalogue Lumière
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
16. The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, History
This short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Director: Alfred Clark | Stars: Robert Thomae, Mrs. Robert L. Thomas
Votes: 2,558
Ranking 19563
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: History, Short
Runtime: 12 seconds
"As the kinetoscope business declined in the second half of 1895, the Edison group hired Alfred Clark to make some films of original subject matter. He produced a number of historical tableaux, including Burning of Joan of Arc, Frontier Scene (showing a lynching), Indian Scalping Scene, and this recreation of the beheading of Mary Stuart. Several of these, including The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, used the technique of stop-action substitution (in which a human body is replaced by a dummy) that would later be exploited by French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Robert Thomae played Mary, an early instance of female impersonation in the movies." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
17. Wintergartenprogramm (1895)
7 min | Short
The first cinema screening, consisting of the shorts "Italienischer Bauerntanz (1895)", "Komisches Reck (1895)", "Das boxende Känguruh (1895)", "Der Jongleur (1895)", "Akrobatisches Potpourri (1895)", "Kamarinskaja (1895)", "Die Serpentintänzerin (1895)", "Ringkämpfer (1895)" and "Apotheose (1895)".
Director: Max Skladanowsky | Stars: Emil Skladanowsky, Max Skladanowsky
Votes: 425
Ranking 21238
Production Co: Skladanowsky Film
Screenplay: Max Skladanowsky
Cinematography: Wilhelm Fenz & Max Skladanowsky
Country: Germany
Genre: Short
"The eight short films projected at the Wintergarten Ballroom were all longer, comprising between 99 and 174 frames, and were each shown repeatedly, in loops. Shot in May 1895, two months before the Cafe Sello test-projections, they showed physical spectacles, dances and acrobatics. The first film to be projected each evening simulated an Italian peasants’ dance, performed by two children; a further film depicted a wrestling contest featuring a celebrated bodybuilder and wrestler of the era, Eugen Sandow, fighting another wrestler named Greiner; the other films showed a boxing kangaroo, an acrobatics display, a human pyramid, a juggler, and a Russian cossacks’ dance; finally, the film of the Skladanowsky Brothers themselves, appearing from either side of the screen, ended the program." - Stephen Barber, Senses of Cinema
18. 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
Ranking 1246
AKA: The Arrival of a Train
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Louis Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"Today, we cannot comprehend the terror that gripped the 1895 audience facing the Lumière brothers' arriving train—this first film with which they gave birth to documentary film. Louis Lumière's film Arrival of the Train shows, in only fifty seconds, an everyday occurrence, a familiar experience for spectators: a train pulls into a station, the passengers go back and forth on the platform. Despite its brevity and the banality of its subject matter, this film has attained fame, entering film history as an icon of the medium's origins." - Martin Loiperdinger, Cinema's Founding Myth
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
19. La fée aux choux (1896)
1 min | Short, Family, Fantasy
The first film directed by a female director, "The Cabbage Fairy" presents a brief fantasy tale involving a strange fairy who can produce and deliver babies coming out of cabbages. Gently ... See full summary »
Director: Alice Guy | Stars: Alice Guy, Germaine Serand, Yvonne Serand
Votes: 1,395
Ranking 3430
AKA: The Cabbage Fairy
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Country: France
Genre: Family, Fantasy, Short
This short film is considered lost. Alice Guy remade it twice in the early 1900s, first as "La fée aux choux, ou la naissance des enfants" (The Cabbage-Patch Fairy, 1900) and secondly as "Sage-femme de première classe" (Midwife to the Upper Class, 1902). Both films are included on the "Alice Guy Blanche Vol. 1: The Gaumont Years" blu-ray, released by Kino.
20. Panorama du grand Canal pris d'un bateau (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
The first moving shot, created by a stationary camera on a gondola in Panorama du Grand Canal vu d'un Bateau, was filmed by Alexandre Promio for Louis Lumiere. Filming Locations: Venice, Veneto, Italy. Release Date: 1896 (France).
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 653
Ranking 6652
AKA: Venice, view of the Grand Canal from a boat
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Alexandre Promio
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"The film Lumiere 295 is called 'Venice, view of the Grand Canal from a boat' and is famous because it is considered the first movement of the camera, this Tracking shot which was then called a panorama. Alexandre Promio thought that if a motionless cinematograph could film moving subjects, the reverse could also be true. This was the case. In fact, another panorama was shot by Constant Girel in Cologne on the edge of the Rhine on September 1896, almost a month before that of Venice. With Lumiere as with John Ford, we print the legend rather than the reality. " - Thierry Frémaux, Lumière!
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
21. Sandow (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Sport
Strong-man Eugene (Eugen) Sandow poses in a long shot on a bare stage against a black background, wearing only tight trunks and laced sandals. He begins with his arms folded against his ... See full summary »
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Eugen Sandow
Votes: 1,077
Ranking 7218
Production Co: American Mutoscope Company
Cinematography: W.K.L. Dickson
Country: United States
Genre: Sport, Short
Runntime: 24 sec at 16 fps
"Eugen Sandow [was the first star] to perform at the Black Maria studio in West Orange, NJ, in order to promote his vaudeville career and his bodybuilding books and equipment via Thomas A. Edison's Kinetoscope. The American Mutoscope Company later made four 1896 films featuring Eugen Sandow. The company was co-founded in Dec 1895 by former Edison Manufacturing Company inventor William K. L. Dickson, fellow inventors Herman Casler and Harry Marvin, and businessman Elias Koopman." - AFI Catalog
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
22. The Soldier's Courtship (1896)
1 min | Short, Comedy
A woman sitting on a bench is approached by a soldier. Momentarily, she refuses his advances, but in no time at all, they are kissing each other passionately.
Director: Alfred Moul | Stars: Fred Storey, Julie Seale, Ellen Daws
Votes: 106
Ranking 7628
Production Co: Robert W. Paul
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Comedy, Short
Britain's first drama (i.e. non documentary) film. This short film is presumed lost. Robert W. Paul remade it as Tommy Atkins in the Park (1898)
23. The Kiss (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Romance
In 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.
Director: William Heise | Stars: May Irwin, John C. Rice
Votes: 3,676
Ranking 8195
AKA: The May Irwin Kiss
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Romance, Short
Runtime: 23 sec at 24 fps
[This is a medium close-up] of May Irwin and John C. Rice enacting the final moment from The 'Widow Jones', a musical comedy then playing on Broadway. The stage kiss had become a center of controversy during the 1895-96 theatrical year, and the Edison company brought these two stars to the Black Maria to film the famous scene. The film was one of the first movies shot for the Edison Vitascope projection system, and was released with much ballyhoo." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
24. 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
Ranking 10733
AKA: Demolition of a Wall
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Louis Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"Even when some of Lumiere Brothers' films begin as documentaries, they are not quite so. Let's look at this one: Demolition of a Wall. [Auguste Lumiere directs the demolition of a wall in the grounds of Lumiere factory. When the travelling Lumiere cameramen showed this film, they would delight the audience by stopping the projector, and running the film backwards.] The effect of the demolition reversed itself to become the construction of a wall after a twirling smoke. It is easy to imagine the impression on the spectators of the time. The next day, when they attended the screening, the Lumiere factory workers shouted: the bosses are dowsers!" - Thierry Frémaux, Lumière!
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
25. A Victorian Lady in Her Boudoir (1896)
1 min | Short
A woman gets undressed in her private sitting room. After losing her dress, she sits down and gets rid of her socks.
Director: Esme Collings
Votes: 151
Ranking 16286
AKA: Woman Undressing
Production Co: Esme Collings
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Short
"In her boudoir, supposedly free from prying eyes, a woman undresses to her petticoat before settling down to read a book. It seems certain that the film's purpose was primarily to titillate, though the lady in question keeps her voluminous petticoat firmly on throughout the entire disrobing process. It's impossible to say whether this was to achieve a specific erotic frisson or because the film-maker wanted to play safe with regard to Britain's obscenity laws of the time." - Michael Brooke, BFI
26. 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: 3,987
Ranking 16345
AKA: The Haunted Castle | The House of the Devil
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
Genre: Horror, Short
"Méliès not only played a crucial part in developing the basic syntax of cinema, he also helped to establish it as the most popular entertainment medium the world has ever known. It was Georges Méliès, an accomplished and very successful stage magician, who first saw the magic in cinema and adopted it as his black art.. Méliès [may] had a preference for fantasy films, as these offered more scope for creativity and a chance to develop ever more spectacular special effects, but he was not adverse to working in other genres. With Le Manoir du diable (1896) he gave cinema its first horror film, complete with vampire bats, ghouls and other monstrous apparitions in the familiar old dark house setting." - James Travers, Films de France
DVD: Georges Méliès: Encore (Flicker Alley, 2010)
27. 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
Ranking 17563
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Louis Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
28. Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer (1897)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A 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 ... See full summary »
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Alexandre Promio
Votes: 1,048
Ranking 5573
AKA: Leaving Jerusalem by Railway
Production Co: The Lumière Studios
Cinematography: Alexandre Promio
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"Lumière camera operators were quickly tourning the globe, taking films of distant lands. In many cases, this cameramen put their cinematographe on board a transportation vehicle to shoot their pictures. This picture was shot from the rear platform of a train pulling out of a station in Jerusalem.. [Shooting a film with a camera mounted on a moving train, referred to as 'phantom rides', was to become very popular. But later ones were usually shot from in front of the engine, filming in a forward direction.]" - Kino
DVD: Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (BFI, 2005)
29. 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
Ranking 10889
AKA: Snowball Fight
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Comedy, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
30. The Devil's Castle (1897)
3 min | Short, Horror
A man dressed in red is ushered into an antechamber in a Castle and offered a seat. When he tried to sit down the chair moves to the other side of the room causing the man to fall on the ... See full summary »
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,430
Ranking 14705
AKA: The Devil's Castle | The Haunted Castle
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
Genre: Horror, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
31. Pillow Fight (1897)
1 min | Comedy, Short
"A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the action the pillows become torn, and the feathers... See full summary »
Director: William Heise
Votes: 333
Ranking 17545
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: William Heise
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy, Short
Runtime: 25 sec at 30 fps
"The very short film shows [four girls in their night dresses] having a pillow fight. There’s not much to this film, but it’s pretty typical of the short film strips viewers could see in Kinetoscope parlors, at the end of the nineteenth century, before projected film became standard. Presumably, most people dropping a nickel into a machine marked 'Pillow Fight' or 'Seminary Girls' were hoping for something a bit racier than what they got, but after all, it was still very much the Victorian Era." - Century Film Project
DVD: Edison Films: 1891-1900 (Nickelcinema, 2005)
32. Venise, panorama de la place Saint-Marc pris d'un bateau (1897)
1 min | Short
Panorama of the facades of the palaces and St. Mark's Square.
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 53
Ranking 17550
AKA: Panorama de la place Saint-Marc pris d’un bateau
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Alexandre Promio
Country: France
Genre: Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
33. The X-Ray Fiend (1897)
TV-PG | 1 min | Short, Comedy, Horror
A man and woman are flirting when a professor turns on an X-ray machine, revealing their insides. After turning it off again the two have a dispute and break up.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, Tom Green
Votes: 1,049
Ranking 19564
Production Co: George Albert Smith Films
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Short
34. Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory (1897)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
"This film is remarkable in several respects. In the first place, it is full life-size. Secondly, it is the only accurate recent portrait of the great inventor. The scene is an actual one, ... See full summary »
Director: James H. White | Star: Thomas A. Edison
Votes: 720
Ranking 20410
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 21 sec
"Thomas Edison displays his talents as a performer, showman and wizard of selfpromotion. According to a catalog description, the inventor is “in working dress, engaged in an interesting chemical experiment in his great laboratory.” And to the extent that the Black Maria motion picture studio, where this film was made, is on the laboratory grounds, this part of the statement is accurate." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
35. Serpentine Dance, Annabelle (1897)
5 min | Short
Annabelle Whitford performs the Serpentine Dance in this brief hand-tinted film.
Director: James H. White | Star: Annabelle Moore
Votes: 151
Ranking 22004
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Short
Runtime: 15 sec at 30 fps
"[Famous Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore (Whitford) returned to the Black Maria studio for another filming session, performing her established repertoire of dances.] The Serpentine dance was an evolution of the Skirt dance, a new form of burlesque that had arrived in America from England.. This film is notable for highlighting the film medium’s prospects to portray movement and light, and does so with impressive visual flair. It was also one of the first colour pictures through hand-tinting processes. The dance is captured nicely and is quite mesmerising to watch, whilst Moore displays a fair bit of talent in her performance." - Josh Keown, Letterboxd
DVD: Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 (Image, 2005) [Seven Annabelle Whitford dances (1894-1897)]
36. Something Good - Negro Kiss (1898)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A burlesque on the John Rice/May Irwin kiss in "The Kiss" (1896).
Director: William Nicholas Selig | Stars: Gertie Brown, Saint Suttle
Votes: 578
Ranking 13475
Production Co: Selig Polyscope Company
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy, Short
37. 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: 4,019
Ranking 14102
AKA: Four Heads Are Better Than One | Four Troublesome Heads
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
38. 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: 996
Ranking 17535
AKA: The Temptation of St. Anthony
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
39. The Passion Play of Oberammergau (1898)
Short, Drama
A staging of Jesus' passion.
Director: Henry C. Vincent | Stars: Frank Russell, Frank Gaylor, Fred Strong
Votes: 52
Ranking 17546
Production Co: Hollaman-Eaves (Richard Hollaman, Albert G. Eaves)
Country: United States
Genre: Drama, Short
"From an adaptation by Salmi Morse of the Passion Play of Oberammergau, Bavaria. Premiered 30 January 1898 at the Eden Musée on 23rd Street in New York. The production was shot on the rooftop of the Grand Central Palace, New York, between December 1897 and January 1898. Some direction has been attributed to William C. Paley and Frank Russell. The total film was originally made up of 23 scenes each on a separate reel. The film was eventually acquired by the Edison Manufacturing Company for its catalog." - Silent Era
40. 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: 1,067
Ranking 17691
Production Co: George Albert Smith Films
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Family, Fantasy, Short
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: 4,729
Ranking 21972
AKA: Moon at Arm's Length | The Astronomer's Dream
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short
"In his first five years of filmmaking, [Georges Méliès] more or less developed most of the tricks that made up the bulk of special effects. These included double exposure, superimposition with a black background, time-lapse photography, stop tricks, dissolves and forced perspective with moving cameras and pulleys. As early as 1898, the sets are already a lot more lavish and detailed, as are the costumes and the puppeteered moon face. In 'The Astronomer’s Dream' Méliès also uses effects like fade-ins, smoke and pyrotechnics, and the story itself has a much more complex dramatic arc, even if it is only a little over three minutes long." - Janne Wass, Scifist
Blu-ray: A Trip To The Moon (Flicker Alley, 2012)
42. La petite fille et son chat (1899)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A short black and white film which documents the activities of a little girl and her cat.
Director: Louis Lumière | Star: Madeleine Koehler
Votes: 699
Ranking 11297
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
43. 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: 706
Ranking 11373
AKA: The Dreyfus Affair
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Biography, Drama, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
44. Danse Japonaise: Gueichas en Jinrikcha (1899)
1 min | Short
Departure of two Japanese women for a rickshaw ride. The title is a misnomer, there is no dancing.
Director: Gabriel Veyre
Votes: 113
Ranking 14957
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Gabriel Veyre
Country: France
Genre: Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
DVD: Les films Lumière 1895-1897 (Geneon/Japan, 2005)
45. A Case of Hysterical Hemiplegia Cured Through Hypnotic Suggestion (1899)
Documentary, Short
Director: Gheorghe Marinescu
Votes: 25
Ranking 16855
AKA: A Case of Hysterical Hemiplegia Cured Through Hypnotic Suggestion
Director: Gheorghe Marinescu
Country: Romania
Genre: Documentary, Short
46. The Tramp's Dream (1899)
Comedy, Short
A tramp dreams he is welcomed in a high-society parlor for tea, only to wake up and be disappointed.
Ranking 17556
Director: Siegmund Lubin
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy, Short
47. 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: 1,808
Ranking 19519
AKA: Cinderella
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Writer: Charles Perrault (story "Cinderella")
Country: France
Color: Color (hand-colored)| Black and White
Genre: Drama, Family, Short
"Méliès took his inspiration mainly from stage shows that his audiences of the time would have been familiar with - melodramas, historical plays, operas and fairy tales. One important influence was the feérie, a very popular form of stage show that combined melodrama, dance, music and acrobatics. Many of his more fantastic films are cinematic equivalents of the feérie at its most fanciful. With Cendrillon (1899), cinema's first telling of the Cinderella story, Méliès's art took a big leap forward as this was his first film to employ multiple tableaux and present a complete coherent narrative." - James Travers, Films de France
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
48. Le village de Namo - Panorama pris d'une chaise à porteurs (1900)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A black and white short in which a moving rear facing camera documents people running towards it on the street.
Director: Gabriel Veyre
Votes: 535
Ranking 2807
AKA: Indochina: Namo Village, Panorama Taken from a Rickshaw
Production Co: Lumière
Cinematography: Gabriel Veyre
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 50 seconds
"Among the films that the Lumière brothers screened for rapt audiences at the Paris World's Fair of 1900 was Indochina: Namo Village, Panorama Taken from a Rickshaw . Shot by Gabriel Veyre from the back of a rickshaw as it made its way through an Indochinese village, the film captured what the vehicle left in its wake: a dirt road, thatched structures of varying sizes, and a crowd of gleeful children who, in their erratic pursuit of the rickshaw, run in and out of frame repeatedly." - film reference
Blu-ray: Lumière! (Prestige, 2015)
49. 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: 1,371
Ranking 14971
Production Co: George Albert Smith Films
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Family, Short
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
50. How It Feels to Be Run Over (1900)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
In one glorious point-of-view shot, a vehicle dashes full-speed into an ill-starred passer-by.
Director: Cecil M. Hepworth | Stars: May Clark, Cecil M. Hepworth
Votes: 973
Ranking 14973
Production Co: Hepworth
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Comedy, Short
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
51. Little Tich and His Funny Feet (1900)
2 min | Short, Comedy
This funny individual will make you laugh until your sides ache. He is funny in all his actions, yet when he puts on his shoes you can imagine the noise he can make when he dances an ... See full summary »
Director: Alice Guy | Star: Harry Relph
Votes: 253
Ranking 16274
AKA: Little Tich and His Funny Feet
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont (Clément Maurice)
Country: USA, France
Genre: Comedy, Short
"Little Tich was a British vaudeville comedian. While other Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre films featured a prerecorded synchronized soundtrack on Lioretographe sound cylinders, this film was shot silent, without any spoken dialogue, and presented only with live sound effects." - Silent Era
Blu-ray: Charles Chaplin : Todas sus comedias para Essanay (Divisa, 2015)
DVD: Chaplin : The Essanay and Mutual Comedies 1915-1917 (arte, 2002)
52. Scene from the Elevator Ascending Eiffel Tower (1900)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A marvelously clear picture taken from the top of the elevator of the Eiffel Tower during going up and coming down of the car. This wonderful tower is 1,000 feet in height, and the picture ... See full summary »
Director: James H. White
Votes: 280
Ranking 16354
AKA: Panoramic View from the Eiffel Tower, Ascending and Descending
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 1:59 at 16 fps
DVD: Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 (Image, 2005)
53. A Storm at Sea (1900)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
While our photographers were crossing the Atlantic Ocean a most wonderful and sensational picture was secured, showing a storm at sea. The picture was secured by lashing the camera to the ... See full summary »
Director: James H. White
Votes: 263
Ranking 16494
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 1:11 at 18 fps
"James White and an unidentified cameraman left New York on the Kaiserin Maria Theresia, to attend the 1900 Paris Exposition. When they encountered a storm, they took this film, which includes a 'cut-in' to a closer view of the ocean. It was promoted as 'The most wonderful storm picture ever photographed. Taken at great risk.'" - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
54. 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: 841
Ranking 16657
AKA: Going to Bed Under Difficulties
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
Ranking 16729
Production Co: British Mutoscope & Biograph Company
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Short
56. A Nymph of the Waves (1900)
1 min | Short
A woman in ballet slippers wearing a large white hat and a long white dress - with ruffles, puffy sleeves and petticoats - dances across water with roiling waves behind her. She holds the ... See full summary »
Director: Frederick S. Armitage | Star: Catarina Bartho
Votes: 274
Ranking 16859
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Country: United States
Genre: Short
57. Oh! What a Night; or, The Sultan's Dream (1900)
3 min | Short, Fantasy
The picture opens with the Sultan lying down to rest on his luxurious cushioned couch. The scene changes to the grounds around the palace. An odd-looking tree appears in the foreground and ... See full summary »
Director: Georges Méliès
Votes: 414
Ranking 17539
AKA: Oh! What a Night; or, the Sultan's Dream
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
58. Expérience du ballon dirigeable de M. Santos-Dumont: I. Sortie du ballon (1900)
1 min | Documentary, Short
The dirigible balloon was gradually released from its hangar.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 44
Ranking 17555
Production Co: Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
DVD: Les films Lumière 1895-1897 (Geneon/Japan, 2005)
59. Expérience du ballon dirigeable de M. Santos-Dumont: II. Le ballon et son moteur (1900)
1 min | Documentary, Short
In the air, Alberto Santos-Dumont at the controls of his machine.
Director: Louis Lumière | Star: Alberto Santos Dumont
Votes: 50
Ranking 17558
Production Co: Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
DVD: Les films Lumière 1895-1897 (Geneon/Japan, 2005)
60. 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: 2,504
Ranking 19670
AKA: The One-Man Band
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Short
"In this early work from the man credited as the father of cinema, Georges Méliès shows how far he came to perfecting the technique of multiple exposure. To create the illusion of seven copies of the same man playing in a band, the film was exposed seven times - an extraordinary technical feat requiring meticulous preparation and painstaking precision. Like most of Méliès work, the pleasure of watching this film has just as much to do with Méliès' manic performance as with the artistic design and accomplished special effects." - James Travers, Films de France
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
61. 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: 2,092
Ranking 3451
Production Co: Williamson Kinematograph Company
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Comedy, Short
"James Williamson made one of the most striking genre entries in The Big Swallow, which makes imaginative use of an extreme close-up to create one of the seminal images of early British (and world) cinema. The film feature a man advancing towards the camera, remaining in more or less perfect focus until his mouth appears to swallow the lens. Williamson then cuts to the photographer apparently disappearing into a black void." - Michael Brooke, BFI Screenonline
DVD: Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (BFI, 2005)
62. 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: 3,179
Ranking 4192
AKA: The Man with the Rubber Head | The India Rubber Head
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Short
"Deservedly regarded as one of Georges Méliès’ supreme masterpieces, The Man with the Rubber Head represented one of his most significant technical advances since the not dissimilar The Four Troublesome Heads (Un Homme de têtes, 1898). That film featured a protagonist, played by Méliès himself, apparently detaching multiple versions of his own head, the effect achieved by a combination of mattes and superimpositions. Much the same is true of The Man with the Rubber Head, with an important difference: the head now seems to expand and contract." - Film Journal
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
63. The Brahmin and the Butterfly (1901)
Not Rated | 2 min | Short, Fantasy
A Brahmin comes upon a giant caterpillar, which turns into a cross between a butterfly and a girl: the Brahmin finally turns into a caterpillar.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 520
Ranking 14584
AKA: The Brahmin and the Butterfly
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Short
"Following The Rajah’s Dream (1900), The Brahmin and the Butterfly returns to a calculatedly exotic ‘Indian’ setting, in this case a jungle clearing surrounded by exotic ferns and fronds. The film’s central scenario, the spectacular emergence of the butterfly-woman, is believed to have originated in a piece of stage magic by Buatier de Kolta (1845-1903) that dates from 1885. Méliès would almost certainly have witnessed a live performance at some point." - Michael Brooke, Film Journal
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
64. Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901)
Unrated | 2 min | Documentary, Short
Time-lapse photography is used to show the manual dismantling and demolition of New York's Star Theatre over a period of about 30 days.
Director: Frederick S. Armitage
Votes: 1,095
Ranking 14937
AKA: Star Theatre
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 1:55 at 15 fps
"In April 1901, Frederick S Armitage, Biograph's leading cameraman at the time, exhibited the results of an ambitious project which had taken more than a month to complete (unusually long for the period). Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre was a painstaking labour of love, but also ingenuity. Developments in editing allowed Armitage to exploit stop-action effects in such a way as to give the impression of speeding up time." - Ion Martea, Culture Wars
DVD: Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 (Image, 2005)
65. Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901)
4 min | Short, Drama, History
This early docudrama shows Auburn Prison and recreates the electrocution of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley of the United States. Some versions offer additional footage at... See full summary »
Director: Edwin S. Porter
Votes: 386
Ranking 14960
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: Edwin S. Porter
Country: United States
Genre: Drama, History, Short
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
66. The Gordon Sisters Boxing (1901)
2 min | Action, Short, Documentary
The scene is a theatre stage with a painted panorama of French garden, with a central alley between lawns, with a couple of marble steps and balcony in front, and a line of trees in the ... See full summary »
Stars: Bessie Gordon, Minnie Gordon
Votes: 184
Ranking 16091
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Action, Documentary, Short
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
67. Panorama of Ealing from a Moving Tram (1901)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A moving view from the Ealing zone in London in the early XX Century taken from a tram.
Director: William K.L. Dickson
Votes: 53
Ranking 16246
AKA: Panorama of Ealing from a Moving Train
Production Co: British Mutoscope & Biograph Company
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Documentary, Short
"One of the oldest films of a distinctively west London location, 'Panorama of Ealing from a Moving Tram' stands out from contemporary ‘phantom rides’ (actualities filmed by vehicle-mounted cameras to provide a spectacle for early filmgoers) thanks to it surviving in unusually high quality. Clearly recognisable landmarks include the former town hall and a branch of the long-defunct Phillips chain of music shops, although it’s the glimpses of Ealing’s long-dead Edwardian inhabitants as they go about their daily business that gives the film its haunting staying power – no mean feat for something intended to be utterly ephemeral." - Michael Brooke, BFI
68. 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: 1,166
Ranking 16593
AKA: The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Comedy, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
69. Alfred Butterworth and Sons, Glebe Mills, Hollinwood (1901)
2 min | Documentary, Short
Factory workers including child laborers walk towards a camera and interact with it.
Votes: 135
Ranking 16728
Directors: James Kenyon & Sagar Mitchell
Production Co: Mitchell & Kenyon
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Documentary, Short
DVD: Electric Edwardians: The Lost Films of Mitchell & Kenyon (Milestone, 2006 | BFI, 2005)
Onlinr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duspZzvrIKo
Ranking 16731
Directors: James Kenyon & Sagar Mitchell
Production Co: Mitchell & Kenyon
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Documentary, Short
DVD: Electric Edwardians: The Lost Films of Mitchell & Kenyon (Milestone, 2006 | BFI, 2005)
Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64ewblmTUY
71. 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: 1,882
Ranking 17536
AKA: Bluebeard
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Horror, Short
"Georges Méliès' first attempt at a film with a conventional narrative structure is this inspired fantasy based on the famous Blue Beard story. Among its wilder excursions into the surreal are memorable scenes in which the villain's latest wife is haunted by the ghosts of his former victims and an array of giant keys." - James Travers, French Films
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
72. Fire! (1901)
5 min | Short, Action, Drama
Firefighters ring for help, and here comes the ladder cart; they hitch a horse to it. A second horse-drawn truck joins the first, and they head down the street to a house fire. Inside a man... See full summary »
Director: James Williamson
Votes: 790
Ranking 19936
Production Co: Williamson Kinematograph Company
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Action, Drama, Short
DVD: The Movies Begin (Kino, 2002)
73. What Happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City (1901)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
A winner and sure to please. In front of one of the largest newspaper offices is a hot air shaft through which immense volumes of air are forced by a blower. Ladies in crossing this shaft ... See full summary »
Directors: George S. Fleming, Edwin S. Porter | Stars: A.C. Abadie, Florence Georgie
Votes: 1,123
Ranking 21984
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: Edwin S. Porter
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy, Short
Runtime: 1:22 at 15 fps
"At first, this film appears to be an ordinary street scene, as a woman and her male companion casually approach the camera. Unexpectedly, her dress is blown up around her legs when she steps over a sidewalk grate (anticipating Marilyn Monroe by more than fifty years)." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
74. 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: 55,802
Ranking 435
AKA: A Trip to the Moon
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Runtime: 16 min (restored color)
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Adventure
"Partly inspired by Jules Verne's early work of science fiction 'De la terre à la lune' (1865) and by H. G. Wells's prophetic novel 'The First Men in the Moon' (1901), Georges Méliès's Le voyage dans la lune (1902) is remarkable for its imaginative, and continually diverting, narrative development. The serious, didactic purpose of the literary antecedents is ignored to provide an engaging entertainment… Méliès was director, producer, set designer, and leading actor. In his exuberant narrative Méliès successfully mixes traditional stage-craft with his extensive repertory of special effects." - R.F. Cousins, Film Reference
Blu-ray: A Trip To The Moon (Flicker Alley, 2012)
75. The Terrible Eruption of Mount Pelee and Destruction of St. Pierre, Martinique (1902)
1 min | Short, History
This picture depicts the eruption of the volcano by which over 30,000 souls were hurled into eternity. The numerous explosions which took place during the eruption are plain to be seen. ... See full summary »
Director: Georges Méliès
Votes: 612
Ranking 6899
AKA: The Eruption of Mount Pelee
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Short
"Voilà une curiosité assez surréaliste. Une scène entièrement filmée sans personnage ni truc par substitution. Juste un effet « pyrotechnique » dans un décor représentant un village de Martinique. Le premier film minimaliste enregistrant la pure artificialité d’une maquette !" - Artefake
DVD: Georges Méliès: Encore (Flicker Alley, 2010)
76. The Flying Train (1902)
2 min | Documentary, Short
Panoramic view taken from the Suspension Railway at Barmen and Elbefeld, Germany. A marvelous example of engineering work.
Votes: 294
Ranking 9376
Production Co: Deutsche Mutoskop und Biograph (DMB)
Country: Germany
Genre: Documentary, Short
77. The Coronation of King Edward VII (1902)
Not Rated | 4 min | Short, History
A re-enactment using actors of the recent coronation of Britain's King Edward VII.
Directors: Georges Méliès, Charles Urban | Star: Paul Méliès
Votes: 427
Ranking 17540
Production Co: Star-Film & Warwick Trading Company
Country: France
Genre: History, Short
DVD: Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
Ranking 19928
Directors: James Kenyon & Sagar Mitchell
Production Co: Mitchell & Kenyon
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Documentary, Short
79. Ringling Bros. Circus Parade (1902)
3 min | Documentary, Short
Short actuality film which documents the passage of a Ringling Brothers circus parade through a prosperous Black community in Indianapolis.
Votes: 128
Ranking 22443
Director: William Nicholas Selig
Production Co: Selig Polyscope Company
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
80. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
TV-G | 11 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, A.C. Abadie, George Barnes, Justus D. Barnes
Votes: 20,998
Ranking 2755
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Action, Western, Short
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
"There's no question that Edwin S. Porter's seminal 1903 Western was the first definitive evidence of the power of film editing in the service of a story. Porter, influenced by the cruder, tableaux-based narrative films of French film pioneer Georges Méliès, created a sensation by coupling a strong story with expressive editing techniques. The film was the first to use title cards, an ellipsis, and a panning shot, and probably the first to use a script. More important, it was one of the first works to take advantage of film's unique power to move an audience across time and space with continuity editing and cross-cutting among different stories." - Mark Pittillo, All Movie
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
81. The Music Lover (1903)
3 min | Short, Comedy, Music
The leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,939
Ranking 3374
AKA: The Melomaniac
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Short
"In this hilarious short film, Georges Méliès shows his talent both as a lithe comic performer and as a master of the cinematic art of his day. Méliès uses the technique of multiple exposure (which he invented and used repeatedly in his films) almost to its limit - exposing the film no less than seven times to allow himself to appear seven times in the same frame. This is accompanied by an extraordinary amount of trick splicing (another of the filmmaker's much-used devices), allowing Méliès to create some bizarre illusions (such as repeatedly pulling off his head). Only a genius of Méliès' standing could have conceived such a mad film and have realised it with such technical and artistic brilliance." - James Travers, Films de France
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
82. Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Horror
The execution of Topsy, a female elephant, in a publicity stunt advertising the opening of Luna Park on Coney Island. Topsy was originally owned by Forepaugh Circus where she killed a ... See full summary »
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Carl Goliath, Topsy
Votes: 1,931
Ranking 4119
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
Runtime: 1:17 at 15 fps
"Topsy, the original "Baby Elephant," had been a featured attraction across the United States for 28 years. She had killed three men in her time, the last one after he gave her a lighted cigarette butt as a treat, and for this last death she had to pay the ultimate price. The event was front-page news in the tabloids, and 1500 people came to Luna Park, Coney Island to see Topsy's execution." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
83. Acrobatic Sisters Dainef (1903)
3 min | Documentary, Short
The most remarkable female acrobatic act on earth. These wonderful performers do some of the most difficult and dangerous acrobatic feats that it is possible to imagine, and all of their tricks are entirely new.
Votes: 97
Ranking 7337
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Documentary, Short
84. Life of an American Fireman (1903)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action
A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.
Directors: George S. Fleming, Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Edwin S. Porter, Vivian Vaughan, Arthur White, James H. White
Votes: 2,708
Ranking 7554
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Cinematography: Edwin S. Porter
Country: United States
Genre: Action, Short
"With Life of An American Fireman, Edwin S. Porter produced the most ambitious fire film to date. The storyline and the action move across a series of nine shots, displaying a system of continuity that involved repeated, overlapping action as well as a malleable temporality. Most remarkable are the final two shots in which the fireman rescues a woman and her child from a burning building. The action is shown twice, first from the inside and then from the outside, with the actions not so much repeated as depicted in a complementary fashion. It reveals a system of cinematic representation that remained dominant until about 1907." - Kino
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
85. Alice in Wonderland (1903)
9 min | Short, Family, Fantasy
This 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.
Directors: Cecil M. Hepworth, Percy Stow | Stars: May Clark, Cecil M. Hepworth, Blair, Geoffrey Faithfull
Votes: 2,890
Ranking 9281
Production Co: Hepworth
Writer: Lewis Carroll (novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland")
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Fantasy, Short
Runtime: 10 min (2010 restored)
Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIXfdogJbA
86. The Cake-Walk Infernal (1903)
Not Rated | 5 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Deep into a vast cavern of the pitch-black inferno, a couple of professional dancers demonstrate the cakewalk that is currently so much in vogue, and now, everyone in the once-gloomy underworld is doing the crazy dance. Who is the best?
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,202
Ranking 14770
AKA: The Infernal Cake-Walk
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Short
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
87. 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: 1,185
Ranking 14970
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy, Short
DVD: Edison, The Invention of the Movies (Kino, 2005)
88. The Infernal Cauldron (1903)
2 min | Short, Horror
Two demons throw helpless captives into a boiling cauldron, and then try to summon forth their spirits.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 2,316
Ranking 16338
AKA: The Infernal Cauldron | The Infernal Boiling Pot
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Country: France
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Short
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
"Although it was made at the very dawn of cinema history, this short film still has the capacity to surprise and impress a modern cinema audience. In one of his most imaginative films, Georges Méliès shows total mastery of the special effects available to him, which still look impressive when set aside today's state of the art computer generated graphics. The film is in colour, a feat which was achieved by colouring each individual frame by hand. The result is a stunning work of art, and great fun to watch." - James Travers, Films de France
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
89. Down the Hudson (1903)
3 min | Documentary, Short
Film taken from a boat heading down the Hudson is shown at varying speeds, often giving a sense of rapid transit. We see empty hills sweeping by, then a steamboat passes. A few houses ... See full summary »
Directors: Frederick S. Armitage, A.E. Weed
Votes: 241
Ranking 16339
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary, Short
DVD: Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 (Image, 2005)
Ranking 17548
AKA: The False Cripple
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière
Production Co: Lumière
Country: France
Genre: Comedy, Short
91. The Sick Kitten (1903)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Family
A girl gives a spoonful of medicine to a kitten.
Director: George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,155
Ranking 17733
Production Co: G.A.S. Films, George Albert Smith Films
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Comedy, Family, Short
DVD: Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (BFI, 2005)
92. The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1903)
45 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Jesus Christ from the proclamation of his Nativity to his crucifixion. Impressive scenes and dynamism of the actors prelude to the Italian colossal movies of the silent period.
Directors: Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca | Stars: Madame Moreau, Monsieur Moreau
Votes: 678
Ranking 19319
AKA: The Passion Play
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Biography, Drama, Short
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
"When it was first seen, La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ was an incredible achievement, the equivalent of today's blockbuster extravaganza. Made by Pathé's star directors Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca. the film ran to five reels and was a huge global success. Influenced by sacred art of the Middle Ages onwards, the film comprises several marvellously crafted scenes that recount the life and passion of Christ with a powerful emotional resonance." - James Travers, Films de France
93. The Kingdom of the Fairies (1903)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Adventure, Fantasy
In 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.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Marguerite Thévenard, Bleuette Bernon, André Deed
Votes: 1,824
Ranking 21107
AKA: The Kingdom of the Fairies
Production Co: Star-Film (Georges Méliès)
Writer: Marie-Catherine le Jumel d'Aulnoy (story "La Biche au bois")
Country: France
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Short
Color: Color (hand-colored) | Black and White
DVD: George Melies - The First Wizard of Cinema (Flicker Alley, 2008)
Ranking 21429
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
Ranking 21430
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
Ranking 21431
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
Ranking 21432
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
Ranking 21433
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
Ranking 21434
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
100. Jésus chassant les vendeurs du temple (1903)
Short, Drama
Directors: Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca
Ranking 21436
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Country: France
Genre: Drama, Short
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