Year 1896

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

In a medieval castle, a dark magician thought to be Mephistopheles conjures up a series of bizarre creatures and events in order to torment a pair of interloping cavaliers.

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.

Russian sovereign Nicholas II and Alexandra Fiodorovna, and President Felix Faure, parading down the Champs-Elysées in a carriage, followed by horsemen.

Georges Méliès makes a woman disappear, then reappear.

A man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.

Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.

A man has a fantastical nightmare involving, among other things, a grinning malevolent moon.

A brief fantasy tale involving a strange fairy who can produce and deliver babies coming out of cabbages. This film is lost or never existed. Copies of it online are actually the 1900 remake.

A male lion, right next to bars that are about 6 or 8 inches apart, keenly watches a uniformed zoo attendant toss small morsels of food into the cage. The lion alternates between finding the food on the cage floor and reaching through the bars to swipe at the man, who stays alarmingly close to the beast. In the background are the large rocks and brick wall at the back of the lion's habitat.

In the foreground, smoke billows. Four horse-drawn fire wagons approach and pass in front of a stationary camera. Two horses draw each wagon, and each wagon carries from two to eight firefighters. After the wagons pass, carts and pedestrians resume traffic on the street.

Two girls do one of their chores. Standing alongside a tree-lined farmhouse, two children who are about ten and four years old toss grain to a flock of about 50 domesticated ducks. A woman watches them briefly and then moves on. The older girl has her grain in a bucket, the younger one's grain is in her apron. The children stay in one spot, as does the camera; it's the ducks that move around. Chickens are in the background; only one braves the ducks' territory.

A butcher puts a full-grown live pig into his large box-like machine. Moments later, he draws out a full range of pork products, many already packaged for sale.

Félicien Trewey performs a trick by writing backwards the words "Ladies and gentlemen, my grateful thanks" on a board.

Strong-man Eugene Sandow flexes his muscles and strikes a few poses in front of a black background. This was a short film shot by William K.L. Dickson for the American Mutoscope Company and is not the 1894 Edison film shot at the Black Maria.

Sovereign Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and President Félix Faure, walking by, followed by their respective escorts.

A series of short black and white films from director William K.L. Dickson which chronicle the adventures of Rip Van Winkle.

Three men are sitting around a table, two of them playing a game of Écarté. When the game is over, a domestic serves drinks.