The Prophetess of Thebes

The Prophetess of Thebes 1907

4.30

Partially lost film. One of the kings of ancient Thebes enters the abode of an astrologer and demands that he be told his future. The former utterly refuses to forecast the coming events of his sovereign, even under the pain of death; but he brings forth a priestess who possesses the powers of divination. This priestess is introduced in a wonderful way: a throne is brought forward, and then a box from which the pieces of a statue are removed and piled up in regular order; the statue suddenly becomes animated. The king implores the latter to foretell his life. She commands him to look through a telescope toward the side of the room. A vision appears. (Moving Picture World)

1907

The Haunted Hotel

The Haunted Hotel 1907

5.60

A traveler stays the night at a rural inn, but gets no rest as he is tormented by various spectres and mysterious happenings.

1907

Satan at Play

Satan at Play 1907

5.60

The Devil is bored. He goes back to Earth with a magic elevator. He surprises two sewer workers, disguises himself as a city man, and spreads improbable events: quarrel with a coachman, altercation with a city sergeant, mystification of a barman, quiproquo with couples… He's trapped in a cage with a young woman, and goes down to hell. Surprise, the young woman is Madame Devil who was disguised by jealousy.

1907

The Dancing Pig

The Dancing Pig 1907

6.13

A pig dressed in fancy clothes flirts with a pretty girl, but she humiliates him and tears off his suit; she then makes him dance for her affections.

1907

The Bewitched House

The Bewitched House 1907

6.50

A group of travellers go into a house for protection. Little do they know, it is filled with ghosts who make unusual things happen to them.

1907

Ben Hur

Ben Hur 1907

4.46

The first adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

1907

The Race for the Sausage

The Race for the Sausage 1907

5.87

A dog runs away with a length of sausage. Chaos erupts as the butcher chasing the dog collides with bystanders who angrily follow.

1907

Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil

Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil 1907

5.50

The opening title card explains that a painter has just finished his work when his assistant comes in and accidentally drinks varnish. The film then picks up as the painter goes haywire and sends the assistant into the painting.

1907

The Glue

The Glue 1907

5.80

A boy spreads glue all over town.

1907

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon 1907

6.10

In this film, Méliès concocts a combination fairy- and morality tale about the foolishness of trying to look too deeply into the workings of an unstable and inscrutable universe. At a medieval school, an old astronomer begins to teach a class of young men, all armed with telescopes, about the art of scrutinising an imminent eclipse. When a mechanical clock strikes twelve, all the young men rush to the windows and fix their telescopes on the heavens.

1907

Sightseeing Through Whisky

Sightseeing Through Whisky 1907

5.10

John, who loves the bottle a little too much, is one of a group of sightseers. Too drunk to follow the party, the reeling drunkard remains on the site of a ruin where he starts having hallucinations.

1907

The Ascent of Mont Blanc

The Ascent of Mont Blanc 1907

10.00

Joseph Vallot and his team of guides and porters climb Mont Blanc in 1906. Their ascent will take three days. They spent their nights at the Grands Mulets refuge and the Grand Plateau refuge. This is the very first successfully filmed ascent. Joseph Vallot (1854-1925), rich heir of Lodève in Occitania. He devotes part of his fortune to the observation of the Alps, sometimes opposing the scientific community. He built an observatory, still standing today.

1907

The Red Spectre

The Red Spectre 1907

5.97

A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.

1907

Kiri-Kis

Kiri-Kis 1907

6.70

A family troupe of acrobats, made up to appear Japanese, perform various unbelievable stunts in front of the camera, achieved through a trick of the camera.

1907

Ju-Jitsu

Ju-Jitsu 1907

4.50

Many demonstrations of the art of Jiu Jitsu are given, and as evidence that this is not a passing fad intended only for the amusement of the public there is illustrated in very thrilling manner how several footpads follow two girls and then in a deserted section of the road make an attack, which is successfully foiled and the perpetrators taken into custody. Splendid action and good photographic quality. (Gaumont catalogue)

1907

The Yawner

The Yawner 1907

4.20

A top-hatted man gets dressed in the morning, and starts to yawn, causing his housekeeper to yawn as well. He sets off down the street where he proceeds to make others yawn as well, including a shop keeper, passers-by, and a small group of soldiers.

1907

The 'Teddy' Bears

The 'Teddy' Bears 1907

5.50

A combination of the story of Goldlocks and the Three Bears with the true story of how Teddy Roosevelt spared a bear cub after killing its mother while hunting, an event which led to the popularization of the teddy bear. Goldilocks goes to sleep in the bears' home after watching six teddy bears dance and do acrobatics, viewing them through a knothole in the wall. When she is awoken by the returning bear family, they give chase through the woods, but she runs to the aid of the Old Rough Rider, who saves her.

1907

That Fatal Sneeze

That Fatal Sneeze 1907

5.71

As an older man and a youth are eating at the table, the older man decides to amuse himself by using pepper to make the boy sneeze. Later, the boy retaliates by sneaking into the older man's room and putting pepper in his handkerchief, hairbrush, and clothing. But things quickly get out of hand when the sneezing that results begins to disrupt the whole town.

1907

Enchanted Glasses

Enchanted Glasses 1907

5.00

Devilish looking man dances with a dress in his arms. The dress stands up by itself and a woman magician appears in it. She conjures six women and then makes them disappear. She magically changes into men's clothing and lines up six boxes which begin to smoke and produce six women, whose clothing transforms from formal gowns to ballet dresses. The magician makes them disappear. She then lines up six glasses on a table, and, as she pours wine into them, a woman appears in each glass. She makes the wine go back into the container and everything on the table goes up in smoke. She transforms her clothing into a dress, then disappears, leaving the dress standing on its own. The devilish man reappears, turns the dress into torches, then disappears into smoke with the torches. (Library of Congress)

1907

The Cleaning Man

The Cleaning Man 1907

5.30

An extremely clumsy man tries to clean a woman's house with disastrous results.

1907