The very beginnings (1870s - 1910s)
The very beginnings of film history.
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- DirectorP.J.C. JanssenSeries of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFrançois ClercBenoît DuvalAn impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.
- A boy writes on a board, then tips his hat to the viewer.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellThe fifth film in the Mutual series Charlie Chaplin impersonates a man of means in order to underscore the contrast between rich and poor.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceLloyd BaconCharlie is a fireman who always does everything wrong. A man talks the Fire Chief into ignoring his burning home (he wants the insurance money) unaware that his daughter (the love of the Chief) is upstairs in the house. When the house next door catches fire its owner rouses Charlie who rouses the force.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonAl St. JohnCustomers and clerks frolic in a general store. Roscoe walks out of the freezer wearing a fur coat, then does some clever cleaver tossing. In Buster's film debut he buys a pail of molasses.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonAl St. JohnRoscoe, his wife and his mother-in-law run a seaside resort. Buster plays a gardener who puts out a fire started by Roscoe, then a delivery boy who fights with the cook St. John, then a cop.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonJoe BordeauxRoscoe tries to dump his wife so he can enjoy the beach attractions. Buster arrives with Alice, who is taken away from him by Al, who loses her to Roscoe. Bathing beauties and Keystone Kops abound.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonAl St. JohnAfter escaping from a marauding group of Indians, a wandering bartender teams up with a saloon owner, only to find themselves up against a ruthless outlaw who is after an unprotected Salvation Army girl. Can they beat him at his own game?
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonAl St. JohnWorking their fingers to the bone to prepare the set for an upcoming performance, the enthusiastic stagehands, Roscoe and Buster, find themselves on stage when the cast quits. However, is will alone enough to earn a big round of applause?
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsMary PickfordMadlaine TraverseCharles WellesleyThe wealthy but selfish parents of a lonely young girl begin to rethink what is important to them after a servant's irresponsibility results in a crisis.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRobert HarronWilbur HigbySusie, a plain young country girl, secretly loves a neighbor boy, William. She believes in him and sacrifices much of her own happiness to promote his own ambitions, all without his knowledge. Eventually he rises to a position of success and sophistication, and Susie realizes that she has through her own efforts raised him to a level where he is inaccessible to her.
- DirectorJohn EmersonStarsDouglas FairbanksBessie LoveAllan SearsA bumbling detective comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress when a drug smuggler wants to force her to marry him.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsDavid MilesMarion LeonardMary PickfordA gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMary PickfordCharles Hill MailesKate BruceA dying mother bequeaths money in trust for her teenage daughter to the pastor. When he buys the girl an expensive new hat, scandal breaks out, as local gossips assume something fishy is going on between the pastor and the pretty girl.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician conjures up a mermaid while fishing.
- 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.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsFannie WardSessue HayakawaJack DeanA venal, spoiled stockbroker's wife impulsively embezzles $10,000 from the charity she chairs and desperately turns to a Burmese ivory trader to replace the stolen money.
- DirectorDaisuke ItôStarsDenjirô ÔkôchiYayoi KawakamiYuzuru KumeSet in the Edo period, the film deals with two brothers falling in love with the same girl. The younger brother is badly injured in a sword fight and while nursing him back to health, the girl falls in love with him. Having lost out in love, the older brother gets into a desperate fight in which he's eventually slain.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsVictor JansonOssi OswaldaHarry LiedtkeAn American heiress seeks the hand of an impoverished German prince.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMary PickfordOwen MooreJames KirkwoodA mountain girl is seduced by a traveler from the valley. Her brother tracks the seducer down and kills him. In retaliation, the sheriff captures the brother and prepares to lynch him. Mother intervenes and, to save her son the disgrace of hanging, shoots him.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles WestMary PickfordCharles Hill MailesA visitor to Mexico meets a lovely senorita living with an abusive uncle. After his gambling winnings attract the attention of robbers, she sees a way out of her lousy situation.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsEdwin AugustMary PickfordCharles Hill MailesNora, a wild girl who lives with her alcoholic father, is forced to attend school. The untamed girl, who does not know how to socialize, is soon taunted by the other children. She warms towards the kind schoolteacher, as he befriends and encourages her, until she is told to wear the dunce cap at a spelling bee. She then angrily leaves the school and encounters a slick huckster. He convinces her they will run away and be married. Meanwhile, the schoolteacher, concerned over the waif's absence, goes looking for her. He encounters her at a crossroad, being spirited away by the cad. He calls the man's bluff by telling them he will get the minister to marry them at once. The huckster high-tails it out of town, leaving a rejected Nora. The caring schoolteacher, lovingly escorts her back to school.
- DirectorMarshall NeilanStarsMary PickfordIda WatermanHerbert StandingTwo young women - a paraplegic girl sheltered by her wealthy guardians and a more experienced orphan - fall in love with a man separated from his violent wife.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonEdward F. ClineMarion HarlanBuster plays a bumbling villain in this parody of melodrama.