A History of Narrative Film
by David Cook
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- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsPhil DoretoRobettaThe pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. Dickson
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsAnnabelle MooreAnnabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns.
- DirectorCharles MoissonA group of friends in Venice is just completing a trip in a gondola. When the boat stops, they help one another out of it. Some of the passengers have left personal items behind in the gondola, so one man chooses to go back to retrieve them.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA poor but honest young man wins the hand of a beautiful Princess after facing a series of exciting adventures involving apparitions, cartwheeling skeletons, a dragon, and plump dancing girls from the Folies Bergere.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDramatized re-enactments of the events of the Dreyfus-affair from 1894 to 1899.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCarrie NationReenactment of Carrie Nation's saloon smashing in Wichita.
- A realistic panoramic view taken at Madison Square, New York City, on February 17, 1902. A portion of the New York Fire Department is seen trying to make their way to a fire through the immense snow drifts. A few pedestrians are bravely plodding through the immense piles of snow, and a snow plow is hard at work on the Broadway, underground trolley line, endeavoring to clear the tracks. Madison Square, Madison Square Garden, Broadway, the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and 23rd Street are all shown in succession.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterThis subject is in three scenes, showing beautiful dissolving effects. Scene 3. The Man Behind that Teacup shows Admiral Sampson the centre of attraction of a group of old maids at an afternoon tea party.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterThis early docudrama shows Auburn Prison and recreates the electrocution of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley of the United States. Some versions offer additional footage at the beginning which shows McKinley on the day of his assassination followed by scenes from his funeral.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA great feature of the Pan-American Exposition, as unanimously conceded by all visitors, was the electric illumination of the Exposition grounds at night. After a great deal of experimenting and patience, we succeeded in securing an excellent picture of the buildings at the Pan-American as they appeared when lighted up at night. All the buildings from the Temple of Music to the Electric Tower are shown, including the Electric Tower itself. The emotional and sensational effects were also secured by starting the panoramic view by daylight and revolving the camera until the Electric Tower forms the center of the field of the lens. Our camera was then stopped and the position held until night, when we photographed the coming up of the lights, an event which was deemed by all to be a great emotional climax to the Pan-American Exposition. Immediately the lights are burning to their fullest brilliancy, the camera is againt set in motion and revolved until the Temple of Music is reached. The motion is then reversed and the camera goes back until it rests on the Electric Tower, thus supplying the climax to the picture. The great searchlights of the Tower are being worked during the entire time the picture is being exposed, and the effect is startling. This picture is pronounced by the photographic profession to be a marvel of photography.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsHarold SmithA boy looks through glasses at various objects, seen magnified.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonStarsSam DaltonA man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera and cinematographer. He steps back, chews, and grins.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorge S. FlemingEdwin S. PorterStarsEdwin S. PorterVivian VaughanArthur WhiteA fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.
- 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.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterBased on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Eliza, a slave who has a young child, pleads with Tom, another slave, to escape with her. Tom does not leave, but Eliza flees with her child. After getting some help to escape the slave traders who are looking for her, she then must try to cross the icy Ohio River if she wants to be free. Meanwhile, Tom is sold from one master to another, and his fortunes vary widely.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA recently released prisoner struggles to support his family.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsAline BoydPhineas NairsJane StewartA well-dressed woman steals several items from a department store. Meanwhile, a poor woman with two small children steals a loaf of bread out of desperation, and she is quickly caught and arrested. In court, what penalty will each face?
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA "madman" escapes prison and the torments of his warders.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterReveals the most important stages of life, through one couple.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterStarsKate ToncrayJohn R. CumpsonArthur V. JohnsonTwo members of a vigilante group known as 'The White Caps' post a warning sign on a man's home. When the man comes home, he tears down the sign, and then proceeds to abuse his wife both verbally and physically. As soon as she can get away from him, the wife leaves home with her child to find a place of refuge. When the vigilantes find out about this, they arm themselves with rifles and immediately go to confront the abusive husband.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterStarsJack BrawnThe fiend faces the spectacular mind-bending consequences of his free-wheeling rarebit binge.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterSeven toy teddy bears of varying sizes suddenly come to life, getting in all sorts of merry misadventures.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterAnimated intertitles help tell the tale of how a skinflint and his wife cheat their suburban neighbor at cards.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterScene Bowery. Young woman drops her handkerchief while passing a Rube. He picks it up and gives it to her. She induces him to go into a side door of a saloon. Second scene, saloon. Rube and woman enter, take seats at table and order drinks. While the Rube is paying for same, woman puts knock-out drops in the Rube's glass. They drink and the Rube falls asleep. Woman takes all his valuables and leaves. Waiter wakes him up. He discovers his watch gone, fights with waiter, and is thrown out. Third scene, outside of saloon. Police patrol drawn up. They put Rube in and drive off.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMiss EarleJinnie FrazerD.W. GriffithA family is terrified when an eagle carries off its young child.
- 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.
- DirectorHenri DesfontainesLouis MercantonStarsSarah BernhardtLou TellegenMax MaxudianEpisodes from the life of Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1533-1603), focusing on her ill-fated love affair with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
- DirectorEnrico GuazzoniStarsAmleto NovelliGustavo SerenaCarlo CattaneoAn epic Italian film, "Quo Vadis" influenced many of the later movies.
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsBlanche SweetHenry B. WalthallMae MarshA religious woman seeks to save her people from destruction by seducing and murdering the enemy leader, but her plans get complicated once she falls for him.
- 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.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaStarsJean LiézerBretteauFerdinand ZeccaA burglar is arrested for a murder. He is condemned to death. Before his execution the murderer dreams of his past, of how he was a bank clerk, then turned to crime. The criminal is then taken out of his cell, and a moment later is executed.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaA happy family is brought to ruin when the father starts drinking.
- DirectorGeorges HatotLucien NonguetFerdinand ZeccaAn advertisement to find a girlfriend leads a handsome man to the rendezvous to meet ten women who run after him through town and country and whoever catches him gets married.
- DirectorFerdinand Zecca
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsMusidoraÉdouard MathéMarcel LévesqueAn intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené CrestéMusidoraRené PoyenA twelve-part serial following the adventures of the masked vigilante Judex as he fights against criminals led by the corrupt banker Favrauxom.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené CrestéMarcel LévesqueYvette AndréyorIs a continuation of the film series "Judex" the masked fighter for justice.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsMary HaraldRené CrestéGeorges BiscotJacques d'Athys, a French adventurer, returns to his home in Nice after an expedition to Indochina where he has picked up a Eurasian fiancée and a book that, unbeknownst to him, contains a coded message revealing the whereabouts of both secret treasures and sensitive government intelligence. This makes him the target of foreign spies, including a Marquise of mysterious Latin origin, a Hindu hypnotist and an evil German doctor, who will stop at nothing to obtain the book.
- DirectorJean DurandStarsErnest BourbonClément MégéBerthe Dagmar
- DirectorAlice GuyThe life of Jesus Christ in 25 scenes.
- DirectorAlice Guy
- StarsBobby BurnsWalter StullHelen MartenA tramp is asleep on the end of a freight car on a railroad siding. He awakes, snow covers the ground. He makes a snowball and throws it. It strikes another tramp asleep in an orange grove. The tramp awakes. The other tramp leaves the snow, walks over to the orange grove. It is too hot so he walks back to the snow with the other tramp. Two girls appear in the orange grove. The tramps take the girls over in the snow. The girls are cold and run back. The tramps write a note asking the girls to meet them at a certain place, and placing it in a snowball, throw it to the girls. The girls receive the note and agree to meet the tramps. While the hobos are walking down the street they see an actor taking clothes from his trunk in front of a theater. He gives each of them a costume and they dress up and meet the girls. They discover a big wad of stage money in the pocket of the coat and proceed to spend it with a lavish hand. They have a great time until the money is discovered to be stage money, when they are chased by a large crowd until one of the tramps falls down. A policeman is fanning his foot with a club, when he wakes up on the freight car and is ordered away by the policeman.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerWilliam V. RanousOn a dark and stormy night, a traveler takes a room at a spooky hotel in the forest. As soon as the proprietor leaves, the room comes alive with ghosts and poltergeists who torment the man as he tries to unpack, eat, and go to sleep.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe nightmare of Émile Cohl's chalk animation is one of unreliable appearances. Fishermen catch fish which eat them whole. Ladders transform into coils which just as suddenly take the form of angry mustachioed soldiers. The human figure at the receiving end of these transmogrifications is subject to all manner of degradations. Genuinely unsettling, THE PUPPET'S NIGHTMARE anticipates Don Hertzfeldt's stick-figure fantasias by a century.
- DirectorÉmile CohlA scientist is studying microbes under a microscope when his friend enters the room. He explains all the microbes that his friend is infected with.