Best First Films
by acedryn | created - 17 Jun 2021 | updated - 17 Jun 2021 | PublicSome of the best pictures from the late XIX century.
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Passage de Venus (1874)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Series of photographs of the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun in 1874.
Director: P.J.C. Janssen
Votes: 2,087
2. Sallie Gardner at a Gallop (1878)
TV-G | 1 min | Documentary, Short, Sport
The 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.
Director: Eadweard Muybridge | Stars: Gilbert Domm, Sallie Gardner
Votes: 3,695
3. Pferd und Reiter Springen über ein Hindernis (1888)
1 min | Short
A horse with rider jumping over an obstacle
Director: Ottomar Anschütz
Votes: 444
4. Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Votes: 3,298
5. Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
TV-PG | 5 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
One 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.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 2,005
6. Blacksmith Scene (1893)
Unrated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Charles Kayser, John Ott
Votes: 2,772
7. Autour d'une cabine (1894)
2 min | Animation, Short
Pre-cinematograph colour animation of a woman and man at the beach.
Director: Émile Reynaud
Votes: 1,171
8. Falling Cat (1894)
1 min | Short
A cat falls down and lands on its feet.
Director: Étienne-Jules Marey
Votes: 960
9. The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, History
This short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Director: Alfred Clark | Stars: Robert Thomae, Mrs. Robert L. Thomas
Votes: 2,559
10. Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Annabelle (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.
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Star: Annabelle Moore
Votes: 2,405
11. Leaving the Factory (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Workers 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.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 7,557
12. The Waterer Watered (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
An impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.
Director: Louis Lumière | Stars: François Clerc, Benoît Duval
Votes: 5,849
13. Rough Sea at Dover (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
The sea is quite rough, and at Dover a series of heavy waves pounds against a pier and along the adjacent shoreline. The scene then shifts to a different view of flowing water, and shows a heavy current from a point along a riverbank.
Directors: Birt Acres, Robert W. Paul
Votes: 893
14. 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: 12,879
15. 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: 2,057
16. The Launch of H.M.S. Albion (1898)
1 min | Documentary, Short, News
Director: Robert W. Paul
Votes: 221
17. Santa Claus (1898)
1 min | Short, Family, Fantasy
Brother 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.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, Dorothy Smith, Harold Smith
Votes: 1,068
18. Come Along, Do! (1898)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
A couple look at a statue while eating in an art gallery.
Director: Robert W. Paul
Votes: 574
19. The Astronomer's Dream; or, the Man in the Moon (1898)
Not Rated | 3 min | Short, Comedy, Fantasy
An astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 4,732
20. Something Good - Negro Kiss (1898)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A burlesque on the John Rice/May Irwin kiss in "The Kiss" (1896).
Director: William Nicholas Selig | Stars: Gertie Brown, Saint Suttle
Votes: 578
21. L'affaire Dreyfus (1899)
13 min | Short, Biography, Drama
Dramatized re-enactments of the events of the Dreyfus-affair from 1894 to 1899.
Director: Georges Méliès | Star: Georges Méliès
Votes: 707
22. Cinderella (1899)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Drama, Family
A 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?
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Mlle Barral, Bleuette Bernon, Carmelli, Jehanne d'Alcy
Votes: 1,808
23. A Kiss in the Tunnel (I) (1899)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A 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.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,696
24. Fête de Paris 1899: Concours d'automobiles fleuries (1899)
1 min | Documentary, Short
Votes: 183
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