The Dawn of Film (1878-1929)
The motion pictures that molded the film industry.
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- 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.
- DirectorSiegmund LubinStarsEmily LowryUnauthorized shot-for-shot remake by the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Edwin S. Porter's 1903 film of the same name. Two bandits break into a telegraph station to board and rob a train before being shot down in a standalone final.
- DirectorVincent WhitmanTwo members of the Never-Drop Aero Club claim that they can reach the moon by the aeroplane. They get an astronomer to get his telescope out and see how the conditions are on the moon. He comes on with a big telescope and looks through it, finds everything in fine condition from earth to moon, so the party start out. As they rise and turn upside down then right side up, they start on their journey to the moon. They pass over a busy city, knocking down buildings and chimneys. After passing over the city they come in contact with the planet Saturn. Bump it, encircle it, and then on their way to the moon they ride through the air and see an old man coming out of the planet Mars. The anchor on the aeroplane accidentally catches the old man by the neck and carries him off. The old man tries to get away, and he sees Halley's comet coming along and he grabs hold of the tail of the comet and goes away. One of the men in the aeroplane sees him and takes out a lasso. With a couple of swings he catches the old man around the neck and drags him behind. At last the moon is reached. The man in the moon opens his mouth and they all go in. The party drop from top of the moon all in a heap. They get up, look around and a large bird comes in and lays an egg larger than itself and flies off. The travelers put the egg on a fire, which is burning nearby. The egg cracks and a lot of little birds are hatched. Suddenly a strange animal comes on the scene and eats the little birds one by one. The animal fills up and bursts. Another enormous crazy-looking animal comes out of the cave and chases the men off the moon into the sea.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsGibson GowlandZasu PittsJean HersholtThe sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorVan Dyke BrookeStarsLeah BairdWalter McGrailArthur Cozine
- DirectorBryan FoyStarsHelene CostelloCullen LandisMary CarrA gangster frames two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York during the prohibition.
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsClarence NordstromMargaret SeddonFrank CurrierTwo distinct stories of New York life are told in this film. In the first, Daniel, a foundling, is given a home by Robert Reid, an East Side pawnbroker. He is a good boy but is led astray by evil companions until a dream shocks him into the realization of what his life may become; Daniel then resolves to "go straight." In the second episode, wealthy Wall Street financier Charles Redding plunges into despair and dereliction after he learns of his fiancée's elopement with another man. Sometime later, a bachelor party of 13 brings him in from the street to alter their number. When the guests urge Redding to tell his life story, it is revealed that the host is the son of Redding's former fiancée. She and Redding are then reunited.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- StarsThomas A. EdisonSteven HigginsPaul IsraelA history of the Edison Company, the pioneering film production company begun by Thomas A. Edison. Included are more than 140 complete films produced by the company between 1891 and 1918, along with interviews with film historians and archivists, and commentary by Charles Musser, a noted film historian and authority on the films of the Edison Company.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastStarsClara BowCharles 'Buddy' RogersRichard ArlenTwo young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceJackie CooganThe Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- 19117mNot Rated7.1 (1.9K)ShortDirectorWinsor McCayJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsWinsor McCayJohn BunnyMaurice CostelloCartoon figures announce, via comic strip balloons, that they will move - and move they do, in a wildly exaggerated style.
- DirectorAlexandre PromioPanorama of the port and the ships docked against the quay.
- DirectorAlexandreAlexandre PromioTraffic of pedestrians and various vehicles on the boulevard.
- DirectorAlexandre PromioTraffic of pedestrians, a cyclist and a cart on the square.
- DirectorAlexandre PromioShort film depicting New York's Broadway and Union Square that gives an insight of everyday life and traffic at that time.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceStarsAdolphe Le PrinceA very brief film of a man playing the accordion.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceA shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceStarsAnnie HartleyAdolphe Le PrinceJoseph WhitleyIn the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceA frame sequence featuring a man walking around a corner.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA British trick film in which a motorist ends up driving around the rings of Saturn.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulThe Derby is an 1896 British short black-and-white silent documentary film, produced and directed by Birt Acres for exhibition on Robert W. Paul's Kinetoscopes, featuring the end of the 29 May 1895 Epsom Derby viewed from a raised position close to the finishing line with the main stand in the distance. A stationary camera looks diagonally across a racetrack toward the infield showing the horses as they pass. Once the horses have passed the camera it is clear that the race has come to an end and there is a close finish between three horses. Once the race is over police officers run onto the field. The camera also displays various members of the audience moving around.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulAn actuality record of Blackfriars Bridge, London, taken from the southern end looking northwards over the Thames by R.W.Paul in July 1896. It was screened as part of his Alhambra Theatre programme shortly afterwards, certainly no later than 31 August, as it is included in a printed programme of that date (as 'Traffic on Blackfriars Bridge'). Two or three of the pedestrians seem aware of the camera's presence, though not to any particularly noticeable extent.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulStarsAlfred CollinsA stationary camera looks on as two dapper gents play a game of chess. One drinks and smokes, and when he looks away, his opponent moves two pieces. A fight ensues, first with the squirting of a seltzer bottle, then with fisticuffs. The combatants wrestle each other to the floor and continue the fight out of the camera's view, hidden by the table. The waiter arrives to haul both of them out.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithAn elderly gentleman in a silk hat sits on a stool in front of a store on the main street of town. He has a telescope that he focuses on the ankle of a young woman who is a short distance away. Her husband catches the gent looking. What will the two men now do?
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsHarold SmithA boy looks through glasses at various objects, seen magnified.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleySmith casts his wife as a sluttish housewife who is mutilated by lighting her oven with paraffin.
- 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.
- DirectorLewin FitzhamonCecil M. HepworthStarsBlairMay ClarkBarbara HepworthA dog leads its master to his kidnapped baby.
- DirectorCecil M. Hepworth
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthStarsTom PowersAlma TaylorWilliam FeltonA mesmerist, obsessed with putting a beautiful woman under his power, hypnotizes her to try to force her to kill her fiance. His plans are altered with the appearance of a deadly serpent.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónGiovanni PastroneStarsRomilde ToschiAlberto NepotiEnrico GemelliAn old man explains a war story to his grandson, who sleeps and dreams about a battle scenes performed by puppets.
- DirectorSegundo de Chomón
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsFrance MathieuThe most famous magician is outdone in this film, for, by the simple means of a wand and an empty glass, toys are transformed into animals, animals into flowers and flowers into a bevy of beautiful girls.
- DirectorSegundo de Chomón
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsGabriel de GravonePierre MagnierGeorges TérofA railway engineer adopts a young girl orphaned by a train crash. Years later when she starts getting suitors, he grapples with whether or not to tell her the truth about her parentage.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsRomuald JoubéMaxime DesjardinsSéverin-MarsThe story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.
- We see a working dog, a beggar's dog, a shepherd's dog, and a milkman's dog. The working dog is locked inside a large wire wheel; the dog runs inside the wheel, turning it to run a machine. The beggar's dog pulls its legless master, who's sitting on a low cart, down the street. The shepherd's dog keeps a flock of at least 20 sheep in a tight circle. The milkman's dog pulls a cart on which is mounted a large cylinder of milk. A lad leads the dog to a house with a Dutch door; the top half of the door opens, and the lady of the house hands out a pitcher that the boy fills as the dog waits.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsFernande AlbanyAboard the futuristic flying machine of his own invention, Professor Mabouloff and his team of intercultural explorers set off on yet another impossible expedition to North Pole's vast landscapes. What wonders await the bold adventurers?
- DirectorJames WilliamsonStarsSam DaltonA 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.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonThe adventures of an inattentive man. He's at his kitchen table, reading. A woman brings his hat and points to the clock. He continues reading and pours coffee into his hat. He leaves, still reading, trips over a servant who's on her hands and knees cleaning the walk. He walks through jump-roping girls, runs into a mule, walks into the only other person on an empty street, and then walks into the path of a steamroller. Two cyclists approach his flattened body. Out come their air pumps, and soon our genial hero has set off again, nose in his book.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonFirefighters 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 sleeps, he awakes amidst flames and throws himself back on the bed. In comes a firefighter, hosing down the blaze. He carries out the victim, down a ladder to safety. Other firefighters enter the house to save belongings, and out comes one with a baby. The saved man rejoices, but it's not over yet. Another resident appears upstairs. He jumps.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonStarsMr. JamesMr. LepardFlorence WilliamsonThe titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese attackers. They attack with swords, guns, and paddles. He's over-matched. What will become of the mission, its defenders, and its occupants?
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaStarsJean LiézerBretteauFerdinand ZeccaA burglar is arrested for a murder. He is condemned to death. Before his execution the murderer dreams of his past, of how he was a bank clerk, then turned to crime. The criminal is then taken out of his cell, and a moment later is executed.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaA policeman spots a dog stealing a piece of meat from a butcher's shop, and gives chase. Soon several more policemen have joined the pursuit. But the chase does not turn out as the policemen expect.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaA hotel porter tries in his spare time to find out the secrets of the guests in looking through the keyholes of the different rooms. He must see very funny things, judging from his facial expressions.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaA well-dressed middle-aged man is enjoying a drink at a table with a pretty young woman. He flirts with her, and she seems not to mind his attentions. But is it all too good to be true?
- DirectorGeorge S. FlemingEdwin S. PorterStarsJames H. WhiteThomas WhitePorter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of the famous fairy tale story of Jack and his magic beanstalk. Borrowing on cinematographic methods reminiscent of 'Georges Melies', Porter uses animation, double exposure, and trick photography to illustrate the fairy's apparitions, Jack's dream, and the fast growing beanstalk.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCharles ManleyCountry rube thinks what he sees on the movie screen is real. He jumps out of his seat to try to stop a kissing scene.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsMary PickfordHarold LockwoodOlive CareyA wealthy resident attempts to dispossess squatters who live near his home, which leads to a false accusation of murder.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsWilliam CourtenayFrank DanielsMay IrwinThe Whole Dam Family and The Dam Dog is a popular fad which has been widely advertised by lithographs and souvenir mailing cards, and has recently been made the subject of a sketch in a New York Vaudeville Theatre. The Edison Manufacturing Co., with their usual up-to-date methods, have illustrated this popular subject in a most novel and original way in Motion Pictures. The picture opens with a close view of the individual members of the family. Each goes through a very amusing performance. Mr. I.B. Dam is seized with a severe fit of sneezing. Herself relieves her mind through woman's sole weapon. Jimmy Dam shows how a cigarette should be smoked. Miss U.B. Dam is very proud of the marcel wave in her hair. Annie Dam, in a large picture hat, tries to look very shy and demure. Lizzie Dam chews gum in a most artistic manner. Baby Dam gives a sample of his ability at crying. A family group is seated at dinner, with the Dam Dog seated at the head of the table. Mr. I.B. Dam enters and kicks the Dam Dog out of the chair. The Dam Dog waits until the soup has been served, and then returns and drags the table cloth and all the dishes on to the floor. The final scene is most amusing. Different portions of the Dam Dog's body appear from all directions. They finally arrange themselves in shape, showing a dilapidated looking cur sitting up on his haunches. Presently his tail joins his body by piecemeal, the end having two tin cans tied to it. The tail and tin cans begin to wag in a most comical way. The picture has made the biggest kind of a hit, and is one of the best humorous pictures ever offered.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudLost 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.
- DirectorÉmile Reynaud
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudPre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudStarsFélix GalipauxA schoolboy smokes his first cigar.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudStarsChocolatGeorge FoottitLost film that is actually an animated photo-painting in which strips of images create approximately 15 minutes using 500 images per title. This short film is a stage adaption of the folk hero William Tell.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseIn an experiment that follows up on the results of 'Monkeyshines, No. 1', an Edison company worker again moves around in front of the motion picture camera.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseAn Edison company worker makes large gestures in front of a Kinetoscope to test the new camera system.
- This film, one of a series shot by WKL Dickson, shows the Pope travelling though the Vatican. It's probably no coincidence that Pope Leo XIII was also the first Pope to have his voice recorded by the phonograph.
- 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.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFrançois ClercBenoît DuvalAn impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.
- 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.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsAuguste LumièreAuguste 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 pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsFernande AlbanyJehanne d'AlcyUsing every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsJehanne d'AlcyBleuette BernonA young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.
- 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 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.
- DirectorLouis LumièreCharles MoissonThe facade and the traffic in front of the Cinematographe in London, close to the large ensign of the historical Empire Theatre, in London.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThe leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterStarsJack BrawnThe fiend faces the spectacular mind-bending consequences of his free-wheeling rarebit binge.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA butcher puts a full-grown live pig into his large box-like machine. Moments later, he draws out a full range of pork products, many already packaged for sale.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAn astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorEadweard MuybridgeStarsGilbert DommSallie GardnerThe clip shows a jockey, Gilbert Domm, riding a horse, Sallie Gardner. The clip is not filmed; instead, it consists of 24 individual photographs shot in rapid succession, making a moving picture when using a zoopraxiscope.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorAfter a body disappears from inside the prison, a series of crimes take place, all seemingly by the dead man. With Juve presumed dead, Fandor must investigate alone. Will Fantomas finally be brought to justice?
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJanet GaynorCharles FarrellBen BardA street cleaner saves a young woman's life, and the pair slowly fall in love until war intervenes.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorIn Part Two of Louis Feuillade's 5 1/2-hour epic follows Fantômas, the criminal lord of Paris, master of disguise, the creeping assassin in black, as he is pursued by the equally resourceful Inspector Juve.
- DirectorGeorge NicholsStarsCharles ChaplinMinta DurfeeEdgar KennedyA brat's magic lantern show exposes an indiscreet moment between a landlady and her star boarder.
- DirectorMack SennettStarsCharles ChaplinMabel NormandDan AlbertA hotdog girl gives one to a policeman who then allows her into a race track. While other customers swipe her hotdogs, Charlie runs off with the whole box, pretending to sell them while actually giving them away. She calls her policeman who battles Charlie.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorInspector Juve is tasked to investigate and capture an infamous criminal Fantomas.
- 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.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGeorge BancroftBetty CompsonOlga BaclanovaA blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
- DirectorP.J.C. JanssenSeries of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergArthur RossonStarsGeorge BancroftClive BrookEvelyn BrentBoisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
- DirectorLouis LumièreOutdoors, 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 back corner on our left stands a uniformed man who seems in charge. A sixth man stands back from the blanket about six paces; he runs forward and takes a leap but stops at the edge of the blanket and is upbraided by the uniformed gent. The same thing happens a second time, but the next three times, he completes a flip, landing on his back in the middle of the blanket, and the four then boost him out toward the camera. The final time seems like it will be his last for awhile.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMae MarshLeslie LoveridgeAlfred PagetThe fact that an Indian tribe is eating puppies starts an action-packed battle in a Western town.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreGeorges MelchiorLaurent MorléasThe press and the public opinion suggest that Inspector Juve may in fact be Fantômas. As Juve is jailed, the actual Fantômas schemes to keep him behind bars forever.
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsEugen SandowStrong-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 chest, looking off screen left, then strikes a variety of poses that accentuate his muscular development. These positions include flexing his right arm with the fist to his head and face to shoulder; turning his back to the camera and flexing his upper arms and shoulder muscles; and, with his back still to the camera, stretching out and up with one arm at a time. Sandow then turns back to face the camera and performs a standing back flip. He closes in the same pose with which he opened From Biograph photo catalog: 24 feet. Still another picture of the great athlete displaying his muscles, and turning a somersault without touching hands to the floor.