The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ 1903

6.30

The story of Jesus Christ, from the proclamation of His Nativity to His Ascension into heaven. Impressive staging and beautiful hand-coloring distinguish the film from its Passion-play counterparts; Its scale and dynamic crowds prelude the Italian epics to come.

1903

The Electric Hotel

The Electric Hotel 1908

6.11

An enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.

1908

Germinal

Germinal 1913

5.20

Based on Emile Zola's novel, an uncompromisingly harsh and realistic story of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s.

1913

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

J'accuse

J'accuse 1919

7.47

The story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.

1919

What Is Seen Through a Keyhole

What Is Seen Through a Keyhole 1901

5.30

Pathé film number 380, also known as "What Happened to the Inquisitive Janitor" (US) and "Peeping Tom" (UK). It should not be confused with its remake from 1905 also titled What is Seen Through a Keyhole, a film now considered lost. As a janitor is cleaning a hotel, he decides to peek through the keyholes to observe some of the guests in their rooms. In room 8, a woman is busy making herself look more attractive, and the janitor enjoys watching her. There are also some interesting things going on in the other rooms on the floor.

1901

The Bewitched House

The Bewitched House 1907

6.48

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

History of a Crime

History of a Crime 1901

5.80

A convicted criminal dreams about his past the night before his execution.

1901

The Runaway Horse

The Runaway Horse 1908

5.85

A laundry man parks his horse-drawn cart to make a delivery. While he is inside, his horse sees a bag of oats and starts to eat them. By the time the man comes back outside, the horse has eaten a whole bag of oats, and has so much energy that he begins to race out of control.

1908

Miniature Theatre

Miniature Theatre 1906

5.39

Three young children set up a table, and on the table is placed a miniature stage. The stage curtain opens, a carpet appears, and then the carpet unrolls by itself. Two puppet figures then come out and begin to perform a series of routines.

1906

L'Assommoir

L'Assommoir 1908

5.63

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.

1908

La Terre

La Terre 1921

6.30

As Jean is walking across the countryside in search of work, he helps and befriends a young woman, Françoise, who is having trouble controlling the cow that she is leading. Jean finds work at a local farm, but he soon finds himself caught in the middle of the conflicts in Françoise's family.

1921

Le Coupable

Le Coupable 1917

5.50

At trial the prosecuting attorney makes a startling confession: the defendant is his son whose pitiful fate led him to murder. The attorney left the young man's pregnant mother, and the unwed poor thing had to fight against a hostile world.

1917

A Panicky Picnic

A Panicky Picnic 1909

5.73

A man and his wife try to enjoy a picnic, but strange and surreal happenings prevent them from doing so.

1909

The Stain

The Stain 1914

1

An ambitious bank teller (Edward Jose) steals a large deposit and starts life over under an assumed name. While he is becoming a lawyer and making his way up the ladder of success with the help of a political boss, the wife he left behind (Eleanor Woodruff) remains destitute and is forced to give up her child to an orphanage. The girl is adopted and grows up (played as an adult by Virginia Pearson) to become the secretary to an honest young lawyer. But the girl has the same quirk that her father had, and it causes her to steal a bracelet at a department store. She is arrested and finds herself before her father, who is now a judge.

1914

Cléopâtre

Cléopâtre 1910

4.00

Short directed by Henri Andréani and Ferdinand Zecca.

1910

Pussy's Breakfast

Pussy's Breakfast 1905

5.86

A young girl is given her breakfast of milk and a biscuit by an elderly woman. When her beribboned cat comes up, she shares the meal with her. Later, the cat sticks her paw into a glass of milk and licks it off.

1905

Max and His Mother-in-Law

Max and His Mother-in-Law 1911

5.30

Max and his young bride attempt to enjoy an Alpine honeymoon, despite the presence of her mother.

1911