Motion Picture History
Notable moments in motion picture history. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cinematic_firsts
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- 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.Consists of 24 photographs shot in rapid succession that were shown on a zoopraxiscope. Earliest known motion picture exhibition.
- 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.This 2-second short is believed to be the oldest surviving film in existence
- DirectorAlexander BlackStarsBlanche BaylissWilliam CourtenayChauncey DepewThe adventures of a female reporter in the 1890s.First feature length "picture play"
- 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.First hand-tinted film
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsAlice GuyGermaine SerandYvonne SerandThe 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 moving through the cabbages and using of lovely gestures, she takes one baby out of there, then makes more magic and delivers two more.
- DirectorEnoch J. RectorStarsJames J. CorbettBob FitzsimmonsBilly MaddenDocumentary film depicting the 1897 boxing match between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons in Carson City, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day. Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it is the world's first feature film.Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it was the longest film released to date. As such, it was the world's first feature film.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.First sci-fi movie
- DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas BrierleyOriginally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.First full-length narrative feature film
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.First animated film
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFrank PowellArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardAn historical dramatization of a Spanish woman during the reign of Spanish and Mexican owned California in the early 19th century.First film to be shot in Hollywood
- DirectorFrancesco BertoliniAdolfo PadovanGiuseppe de LiguoroStarsSalvatore PapaArturo PirovanoGiuseppe de LiguoroLoosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.First full-length Italian feature film and arguably the first true blockbuster in cinema
- 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.First big budget Hollywood epic
- DirectorWray Bartlett PhysiocStarsGrace DarmondNiles WelchHerbert FortierA young woman, who is the daughter of a sea captain, falls in love with a man from a rich family who does not approve of her.First feature length movie in (two-color) Technicolor
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsAl JolsonMay McAvoyWarner OlandThe son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.First feature-length motion picture with a synchronized recorded music score AND several lip-synchronous singing and speech sequences.
- 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.Winner of first Academy Award "Oscar" for Best Picture.
- DirectorBryan FoyStarsHelene CostelloCullen LandisMary CarrA gangster frames two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York during the prohibition.First all-talking full-length feature film
- DirectorUb IwerksWalt DisneyStarsWalt DisneyMickey Mouse is a mischievous deckhand on a riverboat that is under the command of the tyrannical Captain Pete.First Disney cartoon with synchronized sound. The debut of Mickey Mouse.
- DirectorBurt GillettStarsClarence NashEsther CampbellPinto ColvigA jealous stump threatens two trees that are in love by starting a forest fire. When the rain comes and puts out the fire the forest revives and celebrates the wedding.First commercially released film to be produced in full-color three-strip Technicolor process
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMiriam HopkinsFrances DeeCedric HardwickeAgainst the backdrop of Napoleon's Waterloo campaign, an ambitious woman from a family of entertainers begins a destructive climb up the social ladder.The first feature-length film made entirely with three-strip Technicolor.
- DirectorWilliam CottrellDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsAdriana CaselottiHarry StockwellLucille La VerneExiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.First full-length cel-animated feature film.