1
Racehorse (First Film Ever Made) 1878
0:15
2
Buffalo Running (1883 Short Silent film)
0:11
3
Annie Oakley in Action (1894) Filmed by Thomas Edison Studios
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4
Men Boxing (1891 American short silent film) Thomas Edison Film
0:25
5
Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900 Very Short American Silent film)
0:51
6
Bluebeard (1901 French silent film)
10:31
7
Jack And The Beanstalk (1902 American Silent Trick film)
10:08
8
A Frontier Flirtation (1903 Very Short Comedy film)
0:55
9
Stealing a Dinner (1903 Very Short Silent film)
1:03
10
Excursion To the Moon (1908 Color Silent Sci-Fi film)
6:48
11
Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908 French Silent Comedy film)
6:23
12
Legend of a Ghost (1908 Silent Fright film)
14:05
13
A Trip to Jupiter (1909 Short Sci-Fi film)
8:10
14
The Little Darling (1909 Comedy Silent Short film)
2:21
15
Those Awful Hats (1909 American Silent Short Comedy film)
2:41
16
The Country Doctor (1909 American Short Silent Drama film)
14:02
Edgar Allan Poe (1909 American Silent Drama film)
6:41
18
A Strange Meeting (1909 Short Drama film)
12:22
19
The Hasher's Delirium (1910 Silent Animation Comedy Short film
1:38
20
Ramona (1910 Short Silent Drama film)
17:20
21
Frankenstein (1910 American Short Silent Horror film)
12:41
22
Max Is Stuck Up (1910 Silent Comedy film)
6:32
23
Frankenstein (1910 American Short Silent Horror film)
12:41
24
The Unchanging Sea (1910 American Drama film)
13:31
25
As It Is in Life (1910 Silent Short film)
12:05
26
Little Nemo (1911 Silent Animated Short film)
10:37
27
The Fall of Troy (1911 Silent Short War film)
26:15
28
Cinderella (1911 Short Fantasy Silent film)
6:58
29
The Female of the Species (1912 Short Drama film)
6:51
30
Max Juggles for Love (1912 Silent Comedy film)
7:01
31
The Lesser Evil (1912 American Short Silent Drama film)
13:21
32
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912 Silent Short Crime Drama film)
2:25
33
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912 Silent Horror film)
11:04
34
Ingeborg Holm (1913 Silent Swedish Social Drama film)
1:00
35
Tannhauser (1913 Silent Fantasy Drama film)
39:52
36
L'enfant de Paris (1913 Crime Drama Silent film)
2:04:10
37
An Old Man's Love Story (1913 Short Drama film)
17:14
38
His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914 Silent Fantasy Adv. film)
58:45
39
Judith of Bethulia (1914 American Silent Drama film)
48:01
40
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914 Partially Animated Short film)
12:18
41
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 American Silent Comedy film)
1:25:20
42
The Kid Auto Race in Venice (1914 American Silent Comedy)
6:21
43
The Avenging Conscience (1914 Silent Horror film)
5:37
44
Hypocrites (1915 Silent Drama film) (Contains Nudity)
49:03
45
Burlesque on Carmen (1915 Chaplin Silent Comedy film)
31:16
46
In the Park (1915 Silent Comedy film)
13:58
47
A Woman (1915 Silent Comedy film)
26:06
48
By the Sea (1915 American Silent Comedy film)
13:53
49
A Night in the Show (1915 Restored Charlie Chaplin Comedy film)
25:06
50
Work (1915 Charlie Chaplin silent film)
28:07
51
The Dinosaur and the Baboon (1915 Edison Animated Comedy Silent film)
6:23
52
The Tramp (1915 Silent Comedy film)
26:22
53
The Bank (1915 silent slapstick comedy)
24:59
54
The Pawnshop (1916 Silent Comedy film)
24:47
55
The Fireman (1916 Charlie Chaplin film)
24:24
56
The End of the World (1916 Danish Sci-Fi Drama film)
1:17:17
57
Intolerance (1916 Epic Drama Silent film)
3:17:02
58
The Floorwalker (1916 American Silent Comedy film)
24:03
59
The Count (1916 Charlie Chaplin film)
23:55
60
The Vagabond (1916 Charlie Chaplin Silent Romantic Comedy film)
25:53
61
Behind the Screen (1916 American silent short comedy film)
23:19
62
One Too Many (1916 American Silent film) Oliver Hardy
15:50
63
A Natural Born Gambler (1916 Silent Short film)
22:46
64
Sherlock Holmes (1916 Restored Version Silent film)
33:33
65
Charlie Chaplin's: Police (1916 Silent Comedy film)
25:41
66
Down to Earth, (aka The Optimist) (1917 Silent Comedy Romance film)
1:10:42
67
The Rough House (1917 American Silent Comedy film)
19:03
68
The Immigrant (1917 Silent Romantic Comedy Short film)
24:00
69
The Dying Swan (English Subtitles) (Russian) (1917 Drama film)
48:59
70
His Wedding Night (1917 American Silent Comedy film)
19:54
71
Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918 Silent Short Comedy film)
13:45
72
Back to God's Country (1919 Canadian Silent Drama film)
1:12:45
73
Male and Female (1919 American Silent Adventure/Drama film)
1:55:59
74
A Day's Pleasure (1919 Silent Charlie Chaplin film)
17:01
75
The Marathon (1919 American Short Comedy film)
13:58
76
Broken Blossoms (1919 American Silent Drama film)
1:28:23
77
Lightning Bryce (1919 Adv, Western, Silent film serial)
5:19:59
78
The Mark of Zorro (1920 American Silent Western Romance film)
1:46:46
79
Something New (1920 Drama, Western Silent film)
6:27
80
The Last of the Mohicans (1920 American Silent Adventure Drama film)
1:11:06
81
The Penalty (1920 Lon Chaney Psychological Thriller Crime film)
1:29:36
82
The Flapper (1920 American Silent Comedy film)
1:25:28
83
The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920 German Silent Horror film)
1:25:02
84
The Nut (1921 American Silent Comedy film)
1:14:28
85
A Tale of Two Worlds (1921 American Silent Drama film)
1:10:37
86
Forbidden Fruit (1921 American Color Silent Drama film)
1:26:35
87
Sherlock Holmes (1922 Restored Silent Mystery Drama film)
1:25:28
88
Monte Cristo (1922 American Silent Drama film)
1:45:42
89
One Exciting Night (1922 American Gothic Silent Mystery film)
2:23:40
90
Robin Hood (1922 Silent Adventure film)
2:12:55
91
Phantom (1922 German Romantic Fantasy film)
1:59:31
92
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922 American Silent Adventure film)
5:46
93
Tess of the Storm Country (1922 Silent Drama film)
2:34
94
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 Silent Drama film)
1:56:27
95
Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924 Russian Silent Sci-Fi film)
1:51:31
96
The Big Parade (1925 American Silent War Drama film)
2:31:20
97
A Woman of the World (1925 American Silent Comedy-Drama film)
1:08:57
98
Phantom of the Opera (1925) Silent Film with Music
1:34:16
99
Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925 Silent Comedy film) Stan Laurel
19:42
100
The Lucky Devil (1925 American Silent Comedy-Drama film)
1:05:32
101
Somewhere in Wrong (1925 Silent film) starring Stan Laurel
22:24
102
Metropolis (1925 Sci-Fi German Silent film)
2:23:37
103
The Leatherneck (1929 Color Silent Drama film) (Alan Hale, William Boyd)
52:41

Edgar Allan Poe (1909 American Silent Drama film)

1 year ago
106

Produced by the Biograph Company of New York and directed and co-written by D. W. Griffith. Herbert Yost stars in this short as the 19th-century American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, while Linda Arvidson portrays Poe's wife Virginia. When it was released in February 1909 and throughout its theatrical run, the film was consistently identified and advertised with Poe's middle name misspelled in its official title, using an "e" instead of the correct second "a". The short was also originally shipped to theaters on a "split reel", which was a single reel that accommodated more than one film. This 450-foot drama shared its reel with another Biograph short, the 558-foot comedy A Wreath in Time. Prints of both films survive.

Plot
The film focuses on Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia Clemm, who is bedridden and seriously ill. While Poe comforts her, a raven suddenly appears on a bust of Pallas displayed on a high shelf in her room. Inspired by the sight, Poe writes "The Raven", his greatest poetic work. He then leaves, hoping to sell the poem to a local newspaper or book publisher so he can buy much-needed food and medicines for Virginia. At a newspaper office, the first potential buyer rejects the creation. Desperate for money, Poe rushes to another publisher's office, where a man and a woman are busy editing. Initially, one editor dismisses Poe's poem, but the other one reads the work, likes it, and pays him for it. Poe then uses the money to buy a basket of food and other items for his wife. Virginia is still lying in bed when he returns home, where he proudly unfolds a new blanket, he also purchased, but as he places the blanket on her, he realizes that she had died while he was gone. Poe is devastated by her loss, and the film ends with him crying over her body.

Cast
Herbert Yost as Edgar Allan Poe
Linda Arvidson as Virginia Poe
Arthur V. Johnson as publisher at first office
Charles Perley as "Resident poet" at first office
David Miles as publisher at second office
Anita Hendrie as editor at second office
Production

The screenplay for this short was co-written by director Griffith and Frank E. Woods. The drama was shot using three interior corner sets at Biographs headquarters and main studio, which in 1908 and 1909 were located inside a renovated brownstone mansion at 11 East 14th Street in New York City. Filming by company cinematographer G. W. Bitzer was completed in just two days, although records differ as to those exact dates. Profiles on the film at the Library of Congress cite January 21 and 23, 1909, while Biograph production records, which are noted in the 1985 reference D. W. Griffith and the Biograph Company, give earlier dates: December 21 and 23, 1908.

Lighting
The lighting of sets was invariably a collaborative effort between director Griffith and his cinematographers, most notably in his work with "Billy" Bitzer. Film historian and university professor Joyce E. Jesionowski in her 1987 book Thinking in Pictures: Dramatic Structure in D. W. Griffith's Biograph Films regards Edgar Allen Poe as a notable one in Griffith's early filmography, a production that illustrates his growing awareness of the power of set lighting in establishing mood and enhancing storylines that, unlike stage plays, relied totally on orchestrating visual elements within a silent medium:
Griffith's most theatrical use of a lighting effect, his most conscious use of light as atmosphere, occurs in a group of films that are less admirable for their construction than for the tone set by their lighting. Edgar Allen Poe [sic] (1909) is such a film, impressive in its pre-expressionist harshness of the contrast between light and shadow in the shots.

With further regard to the moody "harshness" of the lighting employed by Griffith and Bitzer in this production, in an introduction to a copy of the short preserved in its film museum, the EYE Institute in the Netherlands states, "Although there is little to distinguish [Edgar Allen Poe] now from its contemporaries, it had new and advanced lighting, notably the so-called 'Rembrandt lighting' or profile portrait-effect." Now a standard lighting technique in cinematography and studio photography, the use of such "Rembrandt lighting" in 1909 predates by six years its credited use in motion pictures, most notably by Cecil B. DeMille in his 1915 production The Warrens of Virginia.

Release and promotion

Split-reel promotion of the film with the comedy A Wreath in Time
Just days before the short's release on February 8, 1909, biograph marketed it as "a work of art" that the company produced to commemorate "this season of [Poe's] birthday centennial."

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