My Top 100 of the 1890s
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- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAn astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudOne night, Arlequin come to see his lover Colombine. But then Pierrot knocks at the door and Colombine and Arlequin hide. Pierrot starts singing but Arlequin scares him and the poor man goes away.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAt a solitary cheap inn, a distant traveller overcome with fatigue has a close encounter with the supernatural.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsMlle BarralBleuette BernonCarmelliA 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?
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFrançois ClercBenoît DuvalAn impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsThe pious St. Anthony is tormented by visions of seductive women.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsIn this fantastic scene, a man who is eager to retire has a difficult time finding peace, as his nocturnal illusions come to life out of thin air.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsA devil conjures up a dancing woman from a mystical flame.
- DirectorLouis LumièrePeople start a snowball fight on a street in Lyons, France.
- 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. DicksonStarsWilliam K.L. DicksonThe earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsSatan appears in a convent and takes the guise of a priest. Before long he is causing all manner of perturbation and despair.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsAtop a wonderful central pedestal, a happy clown puts the finishing touches on a William Tell's incomplete model, assembling the mannequin limb by limb with the intention of shooting a target off of its head with a potent crossbow.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA woman's home is forcibly invaded by robbers, and a clumsy law enforcement officer tries to detain the thieves.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAs an elegant maestro of mirage and delusion drapes his beautiful female assistant with a gauzy textile, much to our amazement, the lady vanishes into thin air.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFélicien TreweyThe transformation of the same character in six different characters. A vision of the act of transformation.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudPre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician has a picture frame set up. He then proceeds to make a second version of himself appear inside it.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsThe battleship Maine is blown up in Havana harbor during the Spanish-American War.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyTom GreenA 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.
- A tramp steals a housewife's pie, and is pursued by her bulldog, which latches onto his rear as he scrambles over a fence.
- DirectorBirt AcresA short film drama made for Robert Paul's Kinetoscopes, featuring a boy and two drunken men fighting in a bar room.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsCharles KayserJohn OttThree men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThe conjurer appears at a blackboard and shows the head of a knight on it. He seizes the picture of the head, removes it from the blackboard, and it turns into life and bows and smiles apparently with a body being attached to it. The conjurer then seizes a sword and runs it completely through the head, entering at the neck and going right through the top of the skull. He then takes the head and places it upon a camera, which is mounted upon a tripod; then throwing a cloak around the legs of the tripod, the young lady to whom the head belongs appears instantly the cloak is removed, with head properly attached to her body. The conjurer then runs toward a door which stands in the middle of the wall, and making a jump in the air, vanishes into space.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsMuch to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man 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 floor. Standing up he strides to the chair but on trying to lift it a Spector materializes in the chair, arises and challenges the man. The man pulls out his sword and lunges at the Spector but it changes into a skeleton. Seeing the change the man tried to grab the skeleton but it changes into an armor clad guard. The man attempts to move the guard but a devil appears and waves the man away. The man recoils from the devil and tries to leave but the Spector reappears. Both it and the devil frighten the man from the antechamber.
- DirectorFrancis DoublierA household gardener is outside watering the garden. Unknown to him, the son of another servant sneaks up behind him and steps on the hose, stopping the flow of water. The befuddled gardener doesn't know what happened to the water flow, putting the hose nozzle up to his face to investigate. The boy then steps off the hose, resulting in the gardener getting sprayed in the face with water. The boy ends up getting his comeuppance.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulBookmaker struggles with police and is arrested.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsWilliam K.L. DicksonThe very first American film shown to public audiences and the press. It depicts William K.L. Dickson taking off his hat and greeting the audience.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsIn a traditional "magician" attire, the wizard of illusion and jump cuts, Georges Méliès, says the magic words and conjures up wonders from a plain wooden box.
- DirectorTsunekichi ShibataStarsDanjuro IchikawaKikugoro Onoe VHistorical nobleman Taira no Koremori fights a demon who has disguised itself as Princess Sarashina.
- A lady who is reading is walking with her young son past a couple of soldiers and the soldiers decide to play a prank on the lady.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.
- DirectorAlfred ClarkStarsRobert ThomaeMrs. Robert L. ThomasThis short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsPhil DoretoRobettaThe pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician and his assistant perform numerous magic acts.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyDorothy SmithHarold SmithBrother 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.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithIn front of a flour mill, two men fight. One is the miller, and he's swinging a bag of flour in the scuffle. The other is a chimney sweep, and he's swinging what may be a bag of flour, but when it breaks open, it's clearly something else. Well into the havoc, spectators gather and give chase to the flour-covered sweep and the "well-sooted" miller.
- DirectorJames H. White"Depicts the patient fisherman, sitting on the end of a plank, waiting for a bite. Practical joker comes along and removes stone from other end of plank."
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsAuguste LumièreClément MauriceA photographer has his camera all set up to take a gentleman's picture. The subject checks his face in a hand mirror, and the photographer poses him. Just as the photographer is about to take the picture, the subject gets up to look at the camera more closely. The frustrated photographer soon becomes quite impatient.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyShot of the flight of a fly.
- DirectorGeorges HatotLouis LumièreStarsBretteauThe Lumière catalog sold this title as 13 individual, one-scene films - allowing exhibitors to choose which films they wanted to purchase and how to arrange them in their programs. Lumière catalog no. 933 through 945.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDramatized re-enactments of the events of the Dreyfus-affair from 1894 to 1899.
- DirectorAlice GuyAlice Guy's brief THE BURGLARS takes a classic cops-and-robbers set-up and places it upon the roofs of Paris circa late-1800s (albeit a Méliès-like set that approximates the city skyline). Second-story men have considerable difficulties once the French police get involved!
- DirectorMarius SestierEccentric exercises of a skater with roller skates.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsMrs. Auguste LumiereJeanne-Joséphine LumièreThree men in a rowboat are leaving the harbor.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyRabbits jump, play and interact with each other in multiple different sequences.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician presents a wreath which in turn transforms into other things.
- DirectorEdwin S. Porter"He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to a beautiful young girl. The changes and magical appearances are startling and instantaneous."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsAn incident of the Franco-Prussian War. It shows the bombardment of a house at Bazeille. It is the animated reproduction of de Neuville's celebrated painting.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsA soldier stands guard at a sentry box and leaves it unprotected for a moment, a moment that two men take advantage of to put up posters where it is prohibited.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA man tries to get on a horse , but he climbs to one side and falls from the other, until he manages to stay in balance.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsCarmencitaPerforming on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothStarsWalter R. BoothA Spiritualist causes a group of table-turners to walk upside down on the ceiling.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA skeleton dances joyously, often collapsing into a heap of bones and quickly putting itself back together.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreWomen washing their clothes by the river.
- DirectorAlbert KirchnerEugène PirouStarsLouise WillyA woman undresses on her wedding night.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsFrancis E. ButlerAnnie OakleyAnnie Oakley, the 'Little Miss Sure Shot' of the 'Wild West' gives an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls and clay pigeons in a film from the Edison Catalog.
- DirectorJames H. WhiteA vignette of a barroom/liquor-store in the West, no plot per se. However this short is usually regarded as the first "Western" in the sense that it depicts a western scene.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsFrom the depths of a plain wooden box, a skilful conjurer materializes a lively boy in a clown suit. Next, he takes a heavy battle-axe. What are his intentions?
- StarsFélicien Trewey
- DirectorAlexandre PromioThe 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).
- DirectorLouis LumièreSeveral little boys run along a pier, then jump into the ocean.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyGeorge Albert SmithA humorous subject intended to be run as a part of a railroad scene during the period in which the train is passing through a tunnel.
- DirectorGeorges Hatot
- DirectorPeter ElfeltStarsJohan Carl JoensenFischerA Danish factor ("colony manager") in Greenland drives a sledge with the help of some Greenlandic sledge dogs in Fælledparken in Copenhagen as an illustration of his life in Greenland in this first film ever shot in Denmark (by Peter Elfelt).
- To get a closer shave, the barber pulls off the head of the customer and puts it on the counter. After finishing the barber returns the head back to the customer's body and all is well.
- DirectorJames H. White"Grandpa sits nodding in his armchair in the kitchen, where a sout, jolly washerwoman is washing clothes. While the woman leaves the tub to talk to a book agent, a small boy enters, and ties grandpa's chair to a towel which is hanging over the tub. The washerwoman begins vigorously wringing the clothes. The towel is drawn into the wringer, and as grandpa is sitting with his feet on the stove and the chair tilted back, a collision is brought about by the towel pulling grandpa and the tub together. This is a crowning success as a comic picture."
- Without a doubt this is the finest railroad moving picture ever made, and for variety and beauty of scenery it can hardly be surpassed the world over. This view is taken from the front of a rapidly moving locomotive, over a stretch of track made up of a continuous series of reverse curves; and every turn opens a vista of surpassing beauty. Conwy Castle itself, one of the most picturesque and historic spots in Wales, appears from time to time in the picture.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJeanne BradyJehanne d'AlcyThe first film to ever show a nudity scene on screen is a simple presentation of a servant preparing a bath for another woman.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulStarsPaul ClergetMiss Ross-SelwickeHusband comes home late and wakes the wife.
- DirectorJames BamforthTwo women in long skirts, wearing hats, and carrying umbrellas, gossip beside a fence. Two men on the other side of the fence reach through from underneath and nail the women's skirts to the boards. Off the men run leaving the women to discover their fate. What will they do?
- DirectorAlice GuyA cadger, pretending to be blind, turns round little finger constabulary, putting instead of itself nothing unsuspecting inhabitant.
- DirectorJames H. White"A number of young ladies, in their night robes, are having a frolic, and are interrupted by a teacher. One girl makes herself *very* conspicuous by crawling under a bed."
- DirectorLouis LumièreA ship is launched into the water.
- DirectorJames BamforthSimilar to A Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), this remake omits the phantom ride scenes and chooses to portray a significantly steamier, more prolonged, and more explicit passion between a young couple. Surely, this is a kiss to remember.
- DirectorRobert W. Paul
- DirectorGeorges Méliès"The picture shows the Devil working at a fire. Two cavaliers appear, and the Devil takes the form of a seer, old, bent and wrinkled. Then he disappears in a cloud of smoke, to reappear shortly as a ghost, whose head comes off and floats around the room. Suddenly the table gets up of itself, and flies up the chimney. All sorts of wonderful things happen. A cannon takes the place occupied by the table, and belches forth flame and smoke. A large cage appears mysteriously in the center of the room, through the bars of which the Devil passes as if it were an open door. By his magic, he makes the cavalier pass through the bars in the same wonderful fashion. Everything is so weird and fantastic, that such a small trifle as a man turning into a donkey excites but passing notice."
- 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.
- DirectorThomas A. EdisonStarsNeidert"'Neidert,' of national fame, does stunts on his wheel that are simply wonderful. Makes his bicycle rear up, and rides around the stage on his back wheel; besides a lot of other easy things, such as riding on one pedal and riding backward, seated on the handlebars."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsShowing Pygmalion at work in his studio on the statue of Galatea, who, on being completed, comes to life. He attempts to clasp her to his arms, when the bust leaves the body and crossing the room mocks at him standing with the lower portion of her body in his hands. Further startling illusions are seen in this most beautiful picture.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJoseph GrapinetGeorges MélièsGeorgette MélièsUsing the same rocking effect previously employed in "Combat naval en Grèce (1897)", the director Georges Méliès recreates the illusion of a small ship in a tempest.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.
- DirectorBirt AcresA policeman catches a pickpocket, who slips from his jacket but is caught by a sailor.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseTwo men wearing boxing gloves prepare to spar in the Edison Company studio.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleyTom GreenA cab is hailed in front of a palatial mansion by a gentleman who wishes a score of people driven to another part of the city. A clown jumps out and a satisfactory agreement is made between the clown and the gentleman, and a score or so of persons are hustled in one at a time until the clown succeeds in piling in the whole lot except Bridget, who is carrying a child. The persistent clown, in order to assist the nurse, who tips the scale at 400 pounds, takes the child from her. After caressing it he tosses it on top of the cab. He then picks up a board and uses it with good effect on the extremities of the fat woman, until she is forced into the cab, which drives away with its load of humanity.
- DirectorWilliam HeiseThe all-male barbershop is sent into an uproar when two women walk by the window displaying their legs.
- DirectorAlexandre PromioA black in white short in which a man applies a movie poster to the side of a building wall.
- DirectorAlexandre PromioShort film depicting New York's Broadway and Union Square that gives an insight of everyday life and traffic at that time.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA stationary camera looks across the boulevard at a diagonal toward one corner of Lyon's Cordeliers' Square. It's a long shot, with a great deal of depth of focus. We can see the sky and fronts of four buildings, each four or five stories tall. It's a busy thoroughfare, with pedestrians walking in front of the buildings and crossing the boulevard between horse-drawn vehicles. A double-decker bus passes in front of us, pulled by two horses. Various tradesmen pass on wagons. One van passes.
- DirectorWilliam Friese-GreeneLost film from 1890, directed by William Friese-Greene.
- DirectorJames BamforthTwo men work in a large garden, one of them watering with a hose and wearing a boater. A young man in apron and cap sneaks into the scene, hides behind a bush, and kinks the hose. The man in the boater can't figure out what's going on, and before too long, he's soaked. He gives chase. Will he catch the prankster, and if he does, what punishment will he meet out?
- DirectorLeopoldo FregoliStarsLeopoldo FregoliA man changes clothes immediately.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsLoie FullerAngelic and demonic serpentine dances from dawn of cinema by the Lumière Brothers film, called the Serpentine Dance. The dancer is Loie Fuller; the pioneer modern dancer. Recorded in 1896 in Paris, and hand-colored frame by frame.
- DirectorPaul NadarStarsLoie FullerCarlotta ZambelliSix films by photographer Paul Nadar in 1896 were combined into a program in 1970 by the Cinemathèque Francaise. It contains four dance routines and two Paris-based actualities.
- DirectorMax SkladanowskyStarsEmil SkladanowskyMax SkladanowskyThe 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)".
- "A magnificent picture of the launching of the 'Oceanic,' which up to that time was the largest vessel ever floated. The view is taken from a pier out over the water; the vessel coming stern on towards the camera and passing it by. A tremendous wave is thrown among the spectators crowded at the side of the pier, and the great excitement prevailing is very evident in the picture."
- DirectorWilliam HeiseA commercial. Four men sit in animated conversation in front of a billboard for Admiral Cigarettes. The billboard fills the entire background. Beside them is a large box, also marked Admiral. The men are a social cross section: one wears a feathered headdress, another a military outfit, a third striped pants like Uncle Sam, and the fourth (with pork-chop whiskers) is in a suit, vest, tie, and hat. Suddenly, the box pops open and a man emerges in Napoleonic admiralty garb: he hands out cigarettes, then tosses dozens of them on the ground as the men light up and unfurl a banner saying, "We all smoke." Smiling, everyone points to the billboard.