Shorts 1896
by randvan | created - 03 Jun 2012 | updated - 03 Jun 2012 | PublicAll short movies I have seen from 1896 ranked from best to worst
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- IMDb Rating
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1. 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: 3,673
2. 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: 12,865
3. The Conjuring of a Woman at the House of Robert Houdin (1896)
1 min | Short, Horror
As 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.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 2,051
4. 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: 3,976
5. Childish Quarrel (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
"Two babies are shown seated in high chairs and apparently enjoying themselves. Suddenly one snatches a toy from the other, and they indulge in hair-pulling."
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: Andrée Lumière, Suzanne Lumière
Votes: 960
6. A Nightmare (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Horror
In 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.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,983
7. 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: 2,768
8. Pompiers à Lyon (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
In the foreground, smoke billows. Four horse-drawn fire wagons approach and pass in front of a stationary camera. Two horses draw each wagon, and each wagon carries from two to eight ... See full summary »
Votes: 482
9. Dragoons Crossing the Sâone (2016)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
A stationary camera looks across Burgundy's River Sâone toward a small military encampment. Four horsemen enter the water in the foreground, each riding his horse as it swims across toward ... See full summary »
Votes: 622
10. Children Digging for Clams (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
One toddler and about ten children, not yet adolescents, use a shovel, rakes, and nets to scour an eddy by the sea as fully-dressed women (hats and all) and a few men look on and give ... See full summary »
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 443
11. Une nuit terrible (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy, Horror
A 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.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 1,523
12. Promenade of Ostriches, Paris Botanical Gardens (1896)
1 min | Short, Documentary
Fin de siécle elegance. A parade of sorts passes in front of a stationary camera. An ostrich pulls a cart in which two well-dressed girls sit, two mules pull a large cart full of children, ... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 629
13. Feeding the Doves (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
A woman and a young girl each carry containers of bird feed, and they toss occasional handfuls to the chickens and doves in the farmyard. Most of the chickens stay nearby, but the doves occasionally fly off and then return to eat more.
Director: James H. White
Votes: 908
14. Post No Bills (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
A 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.
Director: Georges Méliès
Votes: 503
15. Amy Muller (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Vaudeville dancer Amy Muller performs a portion of her stage routine, which features dancing on her toes. She dances on one toe for part of the performance. Later, she also twirls and does cartwheels.
Director: William Heise | Star: Amy Muller
Votes: 423
16. Carmaux, défournage du coke (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
Carmaux is in south-central France, near the Tarn River. As a brick of coke, about four feet high and three feet wide, is gradually pushed out of a smelter into a yard, one worker sprays it... See full summary »
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 809
17. 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: 1,606
18. Card Party (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Biography
In what is considered to be the first remake in the history of cinema, the grand French director, Georges Méliès, directs his very first short film, influenced by the Lumière Brothers' original story in "Partie d'écarté (1896)".
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Octavie Huvier, Gaston Méliès, Georges Méliès, Georgette Méliès
Votes: 1,132
19. The Sea (1895)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Several little boys run along a pier, then jump into the ocean.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 1,505
20. A Morning Bath (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy
A woman is washing an infant child. She thrusts him, kicking and struggling, into a tub full of foaming water.
Director: James H. White
Votes: 544
21. Lion, London Zoological Garden (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
A male lion, right next to bars that are about 6 or 8 inches apart, keenly watches a uniformed zoo attendant toss small morsels of food into the cage. The lion alternates between finding ... See full summary »
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 709
22. 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: 1,393
23. Poultry-Yard (1896)
1 min | Short, Documentary
Two young girls feed a flock of domesticated ducks while an adult woman walks by and watches them.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 577
24. The Burning Stable (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short
"A burning wagon is dragged from the barn by the firemen, and four horses are rescued from the flames by the stablemen. Thick volumes of smoke pour from the doors and windows." - from the Edison Catalog
Director: James H. White
Votes: 398
25. Mounted Police Charge (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
"A battalion of New York's famous mounted police at inspection. They approach at break-neck gallop." - from the Edison Catalog
Director: James H. White | Star: Sergeant Eagan
Votes: 329
26. Chicago Police Parade (1897)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Walking four abreast, in groups of six rows, 144 of Chicago's finest parade past a stationary camera. Each of the six groups that pass is escorted by an officer. All are men, all are white,... See full summary »
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 573
27. Edison Drawn by 'World' Artist (1896)
Not Rated | 2 min | Documentary, Short
Artist draws Thomas Edison.
Director: James H. White | Stars: J. Stuart Blackton, Thomas A. Edison
Votes: 249
28. New York, Brooklyn Bridge (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
A stationary camera is set at a curve in the train tracks, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. From the bridge, a four-car streetcar approaches and turns to he viewer's left. As it ... See full summary »
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 398
29. Black Diamond Express (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
"Train is first seen rounding a curve nearly a mile away. Approaches at the rate of 70 miles an hour, blowing a warning whistle to a gang of track repairers."
Director: James H. White | Stars: Benjamin F. Hardesty, Charles Lee
Votes: 340
30. Lone Fisherman (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Comedy, Short
"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."
Director: James H. White
Votes: 324
31. New York: Broadway at Union Square (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
Short film depicting New York's Broadway and Union Square that gives an insight of everyday life and traffic at that time.
Director: Alexandre Promio
Votes: 720
32. Interrupted Lover (1896)
1 min | Comedy, Short
A pair of bucolic lovers discovered by the wrathful father, who teaches the gallant a lesson.
Director: James H. White
Votes: 359
33. Awakening of Rip (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The seventh of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip awakes from his slumber, having significantly aged during his sleep.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 624
34. Rip's Twenty Years' Sleep (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The sixth of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip passes out from drinking and falls asleep.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 572
35. Rip Passing Over the Mountain (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Fantasy
The eighth and final of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, an elderly Rip crosses the mountain.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 551
36. Rip's Toast (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The first of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, two men - one of them being Rip himself - toast and enjoy their drinks.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 567
37. Rip Leaving Sleepy Hollow (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The fourth of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip encounters several other dwarf-like mountain-dwellers.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 563
38. Rip's Toast to Hudson (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Fantasy
The fifth of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip starts drinking with the mountain-men and gets severely drunk.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 543
39. Rip Meeting the Dwarf (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Fantasy
The second of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, a dwarf carrying a barrel appears. Rip friendly takes the barrel from him.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 545
40. Exit of Rip and the Dwarf (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Drama, Short
The third of eight short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson in which he chronicles the story of Rip Van Winkle. In this film, Rip helps the dwarf carrying the barrel into the mountains.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Joseph Jefferson
Votes: 555
41. Loading a Boiler (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Documentary
A stationary camera placed amidships looks toward the round end of a 10- or 12-foot boiler that's been loaded onto the open deck. Three men climb down from atop the boiler and then remove ... See full summary »
Votes: 374
42. The Derby (I) (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
The 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Robert W. Paul
Votes: 411
43. American Falls from Above, American Side (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
The camera shows a view of the American Falls and Goat Island.
Director: James H. White
Votes: 346
44. William McKinley at Canton, Ohio (1896)
1 min | Documentary, Short
"This view was taken upon Mr. McKinley's lawn at his home in Canton, Ohio. Mr. McKinley appears walking across the lawn in company with his Secretary, who hands him a telegram, which he ... See full summary »
Stars: William McKinley, George B. Cortelyou, Ida McKinley
Votes: 579
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