Robert W. Paul

A short documentary about industrial whaling. The surviving footage runs for approximately 12 minutes.

A parade of Gordon Highlanders in dress uniform march through the centre of Aberdeen on their way to the Boer War. Small children run around in excitement but are moved aside by a member of the regiment. Directed by Robert W. Paul.

A miser dies of shock when the ghost of a poor woman appears.

Japanese pose as coolies, blow up a train, are caught and shot.

A tiny fragment of an actuality film of Tom Merry (William Mechem), a 'lightning sketch' caricaturist performing his act for the camera and producing a large profile caricature of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The loss of the rest of the film has bequeathed us 6 seconds that are of Mechem standing next to the completed portrait and sadly, that is all there is. An early film made by Birt Acres for R.W. Paul. (see release information for further detail).

The surf pounds against a breakwater on which are visible several people standing. The wall looks to be about 20 feet above sea level and extend at least 100 feet into the water. A large wave rolls picturesquely along the wall toward the shore. Smaller waves follow. Then the scene changes to river water flowing. We see both shores: in the foreground a log and tree branch are visible; on the far shore, there appears to be a low wall with trees beyond it. The camera is stationary in both shots.

Husband comes home late and wakes the wife. Based on a popular stage play.

The scene is a railroad track on the side of a steep mountain, with a tunnel in the background, toward which a train is running at a high rate of speed. At this instant the audience is appalled at the sight of a second train rushing out of the tunnel. Both trains are on the same track and traveling toward each other at a high rate of speed. They collide. Cars and engines are smashed into fragments and thrown down the steep incline. (Edison Catalog)

The water beats relentlessly against the Hell's Mouth (Boca do Inferno), one of the main natural attractions of Lisbon's west coast, filmed from above almost in a vertical plunge onto the deep, rocky ground.

Four men of different ranks play a game of tetherball on a ship's deck.

Men expose a fake medium's tricks and take revenge.

A Swiss tourist knocks the head off a negro waiter.

A man strolling in a city street is attacked by three assailants. A policeman comes to the rescue and the men struggle with each other.

A magical glowing white motorcar ignores policemen, drives up buildings, flies through outer space, and can transform into a horse and carriage.

The opening of the Kiel Canal in Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 20 June 1895.

A barber cuts heads off Negro and white customers, who then dismember him.

An 1895 British short black and white silent comedy film featuring two drunken men and a boy squabbling in a small bar.

On the roof of an ancient palace appear a young Knight and his lady. While they are making love an ugly old witch appears and is rather troublesome. The Knight commands her to leave, and when he is about to force her away she sits on her broom and rises to the moon. After disappearing she causes various hob-goblins to haunt the pair, the last of them stealing away the lady while the Knight's back is turned. The Knight, frantic with grief, is suddenly confronted by a Fairy, who presents him with a magical sword, and tells him that he can use it to regain the young woman.

A 19th century wire-walker performs his stage act on a woman's clothesline. An early comedy by pioneer director Robert W. Paul.

An artist draws the head of a pretty girl, takes the drawing off the paper and places it on a small table, turning the image into the head of a real woman. He then continuous drawing the lady, one body part after the other.