An animated film by French auteur Émile Cohl, one of the earliest examples of hand-drawn film animation. Drawing inspiration from J. Stuart Blackton and the Incoherents of club Hydropathes, the film, with all its wild transformations, sees our protagonist materialize a movie theatre, meet an elephant and escape from jail; A morphing, stream-of-consciousness delight.
Based on Shakespeare's play. Petruchio courts the bad-tempered Katharina, and tries to change her aggressive behavior.
An enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.
A sorcerer turns a small egg into a bigger one and keeps repeating this trick until the egg is large enough to do other things including delivering children.
The film portrays the events on the day King Henri III of France arranged for Duke Henri de Guise to be murdered.
Two feuding houses are united with the marriage and eventual death of their children.
A castaway returns home after years lost at sea, to the wife and child he left behind. Has she waited faithfully or has she moved on?
Everyman Coupeau's attempts to stop drinking are routinely thwarted by the wicked and vengeful Virginie. Based on Zola's novel, Capellani's film is about the free fall of a group of working-class French folk into degradation and tragedy due to carelessness, jealousy, and alcohol abuse. At the time of its release, L'Assommoir was hugely successful.
A woodsman leaves a hut followed by a woman with their baby. Nearby some men chop down a tree. The baby is left outside the hut, but an eagle flies away with it.
A group of collegiates decide to go for a splash. A lunatic, having escaped from a nearby asylum, heads for the surf, brandishing a knife. Innocent seaside fun becomes a struggle against a maniac on the water.
Pretty Miss Chrysanthemum has but little to say as to the disposal of her heart, at least, such is the custom in Japan. Her parents attend to that for her. However, pretty little O Yama Sum had a will of her own, and casting tradition to the winds, insisted upon making her own choice. The Grand Daimio has long loved the pretty O Yama and presents himself before her mother in quest of her hand. His offer is scorned by O Yama, for she loves another, a low-born but worthy warrior.
Young Wilkinson is leaving his dear old mother for a journey to seek his fortune in a foreign clime. Now, the little cottage is situated near the coast. The waters of the sea have been infested with a band of gold-thirsty pirates, who pillaged every ship that came their way. Having successfully perpetuated one of their nefarious exploits, they are struck by a storm and forced to put out from their floundering vessel in a small yawl, in which they place a chest of valuables, for the shore.
This one-reeler has been regarded as a classic example of a Griffith thriller. It engages with the Chinese White slave traffic from the perspective of a female detective, played by Marion Leonard, whose assignment is to expose and break the traffic ring. A fragment is widely available.
A Seventeenth Century romance in which an eloping couple try to escape the wrath of the girl's father.
A one-armed street peddler notices that a well-to-do man has dropped his ring. He returns it to him. The wealthy man is very grateful and, to show his appreciation, takes the peddler to a 'Limb Store', where he buys him a new arm. The recipient soon discovers that this new arm has a will of its own - causing him considerable embarrassment.
Prospero and his daughter Miranda must take refuge on an enchanted island. There Prospero, who himself has magical powers, releases the spirit Ariel from a spell, and also meets the savage Caliban. Then Prospero uses his powers to create a tempest that shipwrecks some of the persons who caused his exile.
The first successful motion picture in natural color, filmed with Kinemacolor. It is an 8 minute short film directed by George Albert Smith of Brighton, showing people doing everyday activities. It is ranked of high historical importance. Kinemacolor later influenced and replaced by Technicolor, which was used from 1916 to 1952.
Three woman playing a game of catch leads to one of them exposing herself as she gets stuck whilst peering out the window.
A silent short about a Sioux Indian by D.W. Griffith.
