Attack on a China Mission is a 1900 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, showing some sailors coming to the rescue of the wife of a missionary killed by Boxers.The four-shot film, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, was innovative in content and technique. It incorporated a reverse-angle cut and at least two dozen performers, whereas most dramatic films of the era consisted of single-figure casts and very few shots. Film historian John Barnes claims Attack on a China Mission had "the most fully developed narrative" of any English film up to that time. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Herbert Beerbohm Tree made a silent film version in 1899 entitled King John. It is a short film consisting of the King's death throes in Act V, Scene vii and is the earliest surviving film adaptation of a Shakespearean play. King John is the title by which the earliest known example of a film based on a play by William Shakespeare is commonly known. Filmed in London, England, in September 1899, at the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company's open-air studio on the Embankment, it was a silent film made from four very short separate films. Each of those films showed a heavily edited scene from Herbert Beerbohm Tree's forthcoming stage production of Shakespeare's mid-1590s play, King John, at Her Majesty's Theatre London. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Early French Supernatural Film - The Devil in a Convent (French: Le Diable au couvent), released in the UK as "The Sign of the Cross", or the Devil in a Convent, is an 1899 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

A comic actor's transformation of six characters in six different hats. Louis Lumiere (1895) Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

“Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat” was shot in 1895 but did not publicly screen for the first time until January 1896. The silent short film runs 50 seconds and depicts a train pulling into a train station in the French coastal town of La Ciotat. L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (translated from French into English as The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat [US] and The Arrival of the Mail Train, and in the United Kingdom as Train Pulling into a Station) is an 1895 French short silent documentary film directed and produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Contrary to myth, it was not shown at the Lumières' first public film screening on 28 December 1895 in Paris, France: the programme of ten films shown that day makes no mention of it. Its first public showing took place in January 1896. It is indexed as Lumière No. 653. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Experimental sound film made for Edison's kinetophone -- a combination of the kinetoscope and phonograph -- but apparently never distributed. The Library of Congress copy is silent. Features two men dancing to a violinist. Performer: W.K.L. Dickson or Charles D'Almaine. Camera, William Heise. Filmed ca. September 1894 to April 2, 1895, in Edison's Black Maria studio. OTHER TITLES Variant title: [Dickson violin] CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : [Edison Manufacturing Co., 1895]. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Magician 1898: This early short from Georges Méliès displays his wizardry with camera trickery, but seems to fall short in the department of a coherent storyline. A fascinating experiment with a particularly interesting (if inexplicable) transformation midway through. Georges Méliès 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Pygmalion and Galatea (French: Pygmalion et Galathée) is an 1898 French short silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès, based on the ancient Pygmalion myth. Pygmalion, completing his statue of Galatea, is madly in love with it. To his delight, Galatea comes to life. When he tries to embrace her, however, she magically changes place; then her upper and lower halves come apart, much to Pygmalion's confusion. Galatea's halves join back together again, but just as he is about to kiss her at last, she steps back onto her pedestal and becomes a statue again. Georges Méliès 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Statue of Liberty, 1898 (Thomas Edison). A three-quarter front view of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was erected twelve years earlier, in 1886. Thomas A. Edison, Inc. 1898 Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Eiffel Tower, filmed by the Lumière brothers in 1898. Panorama during the ascent of the Eiffel Tower" is a short film shot from the elevator in which you can see the Trocadero Palace, built for the World's Fair, and its gardens with the Tower in the foreground. This was in the early days of cinema, so it was truly a technological feat that marked the beginning of a long series of productions at the Tower. Lumière brothers 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Adventures of William Tell (French: Guillaume Tell et le clown) is an 1898 French short black-and-white silent trick film, directed by Georges Méliès, featuring a clown trying to shoot fruit off the head of a dummy which comes to life. The film is, "a knockabout farce based on jump-cuts and the timely substitution of dummies for real bodies," with, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "a level of onscreen violence not previously seen in a surviving Méliès film," which marks, "a bridge between the onstage effects of the famous Théâtre du Grand Guignol and countless later outpourings of comically extreme screen violence as seen in everything from Tex Avery cartoons to the early films of Sam Raimi." It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 159 in its catalogues, where it was advertised as a scène comico-fantastique. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Come Along, Do! is an 1898 British short silent comedy film, produced and directed by Robert W. Paul. The film was of 1 minute duration, but only 38 seconds has survived. The whole of the second shot is only available as film stills. The film features an elderly man at an art gallery who takes a great interest in a nude statue to the irritation of his wife. The film has cinematographic significance as the first example of film continuity. It was, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "one of the first films to feature more than one shot." In the first shot, an elderly couple is outside an art exhibition having lunch and then follow other people inside through the door. The second shot shows what they do inside Robert W Paul 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Humpty Dumpty Circus,1898, is a lost stop motion film. The Humpty Dumpty Circus was a stop motion short film made in 1898 by director J. Stuart Blackton and producer Albert E. Smith. The short is considered to be one of, if not the, very first stop motion animations ever made. Unfortunately, the short is impossible to find, likely due to its age, and is a lost media, Only a few stills can be found online. This movie was also considered the very first [Documented] Stop Motion film. J. Stuart Blackton 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Ball Game is an 1898 American short black-and-white silent documentary sports film produced and distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. The film contains footage of an 1898 baseball game between Reading Coal Heavers and the Newark Bears. The camera is situated twenty feet from the bag and a short extract of the game is then filmed. Edison Manufacturing Company 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Dewar's It's Scotch (First Whiskey Advertisement) 1898. A line of giddy, possibly drunk men, dressed in Scottish highland outfits, perform a disorderly dance routine in front of a sign advertising the product of the title. This film is often described as the first filmed advertisement. Thomas Edison Co. 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Oil Gush in Balakhany (Azerbaijani: Balaxanıda neft fontanı) is a film directed by the pioneer of cinema in Azerbaijan, Alexandre Michon. It was filmed on August 4, 1898 in Balakhany, Baku and presented at the International Paris Exhibition. The film was shot using a 35mm film on a Lumière cinematograph. Alexandre Michon 1898. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Blanket-tossing a new recruit: "Company F, 1st Ohio Volunteers, initiating a new man. Nineteen times he bounces in the blanket, and each toss is funnier than the last one. 50 feet" -Edison films catalog. Thomas A. Edison, Inc. 1898 Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

On the Roofs (French: Sur les toits (cambrioleurs et gendarmes)) is an 1897 French short silent comedy film directed by Georges Méliès. The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 100 in its catalogues. The film features a bumbling policeman attempting to apprehend two criminals on the roof of an apartment building. "Every second of this," "highly successfully staged" "minute of film," according to Europa Film Treasues, "is used to construct the character's action and movements" and "made use of the theatre's three-dimensional decor," which "the competition quickly copied." The film was included in the Will Day collection bought by French Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux from collector Wilfrid Day in 1959 and preserved in the French Film Archives. A woman calls for help from her window as two burglars climb over the roofs into her house, tie her up, and throw her out of the window. A policeman hears her cries and climbs onto the roof, only to be trapped by the burglars before they make their escape. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Peeping Tom is an 1897 American short comedy-drama film. The film was made by the American Mutoscope Company. It concerns a man peeping through a keyhole at an attractive young woman and his comeuppance. This film is frequently confused online with the 1901 film Par Le Trou De La Serrure (What is Seen Through the Keyhole), directed by Ferdinand Zecca. The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over 3000 short films and 12 feature films. During the height of silent film as a medium, Biograph was America's most prominent film studio and one of the most respected and influential studios worldwide, only rivaled by Germany's UFA, Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and France's Pathé. The company was home to pioneering director D. W. Griffith and such actors as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Another view of one of the sights of San Francisco, a 50-foot slide is used by the bathers, who toboggan down its slippery surface in all positions. The bathers are clad in black trunks, making fine contrast with the flesh tints. In this second film, the figures are show larger. A springboard furnishes the bathers with much amusement; also a toboggan slide. A large indoor swimming pool is shown, as well as the walkways that separate the varying depths of the water, and a sign identifying the locale on the wall farthest from the camera position. In the immediate foreground, camera right. Produced by the Thomas Edison Company. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

One of the sights of San Francisco. A 50-foot slide is used by the bathers, who toboggan down its slippery surface in all positions. The bathers are clad in black trunks, making fine contrast with the flesh tints. 50 feet--Edison films catalog, produced by the Thomas Edison Company. In the background are three tiers of spectators watching the bathers. There are many people bathing and diving into the swimming pool. There is also a two-story slide down which many individuals can be seen descending into the water. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Sea Fighting in Greece (French: Combat naval en Grèce) is an 1897 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 110 in its catalogues. The film, one of a series of events related to the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, is set on the gun deck of a man-of-war ship under attack. In reality, there were no naval clashes during the war. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Controversy surrounds this film clip. Is it Thomas Edison? Or Aryeh Lubin? Lubin had a habit of looking at his competitors' work, especially since there was no copyright back then. He would buy a competitor's movie and reprint it for his own catalogue. A film on the internet claims to be this film. It is not. It is just the Edison film Pillow Fight. Lubin is certainly known to have made a copy (as he almost invariably did), taking "new" on the front of the title (as he almost invariably did) with his daughter and her friends as the pillow-fighters but the film is not known to have survived. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

A comic subject, clear, bright and characteristic. Shows four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the action the pillows become torn, and the feathers fly over their heads and about the room in great numbers, producing with the white dresses and the black background a novel effect. Produced by Thomas A. Edison with camera man William Heise. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The first film shot in Canada - Niagara Falls is the location and the camera is placed on a platform where we get a terrific view of the water going over the falls. Virtually overlooking the falls and surrounded by the swift current not far from the camera is a small island where six or eight tourists watch the water, talk, and move about. Filmed by The Lumière Brothers. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer (translated into English as Leaving Jerusalem by Railway) is an 1897 film directed by Alexandre Promio and released by the Lumière brothers. Lasting for roughly 50 seconds, it shows the goodbyes of many passersby - first Europeans, then Palestinian Arabs, then Palestinian Jews - as a train leaves Jerusalem. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Surrender of Tournavos (French: La Prise de Tournavos), also known as La Prise de Tournavos par les Troupes du Sultan, is an 1897 short silent film directed by Georges Méliès (Another 1st for a War Film). Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The Last Cartridges (French: Les Dernières Cartouches, also released as Bombardement d'une Maison; Star Film Catalogue no. 105) is an 1897 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliès, based on the 1873 painting of the same name by Alphonse de Neuville.The film recreates the defense of a house at Bazeilles, on September 1, 1870 at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War. The film was a great success and inspired the Lumière, Pathé and Gaumont studios to film imitations. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

Original dance by the Leander Sisters, performed at the Sutro Baths, San Francisco, California in 1897 by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. One is dressed as Cupid, with the accompanying wings, bow and arrow; the other represents Psyche. The dance is full of grace and action and the figures show life size and very clear. The costumes are white and show up in beautiful contrast to the dark background, which is composed of bathers in bathing costumes and two tiers of spectators. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

An Hallucinated Alchemist (French: L'hallucination de l'alchimiste), also known as The Alchemist's Hallucination, was an 1897 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliés. This film is lost. The videos online are not this film, but actually The Mysterious Retort (1906). Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

After the Ball (French: Après le bal - le tub) is an 1897 French short silent film made by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and numbered 128 in its catalogues. Classic Clips https://classicclips.ca

The 1896 version of La Fée aux Choux (The Fairy of the Cabbages), is a lost film that featured a honeymoon couple, a farmer, pictures of babies glued to cardboard, and one live baby. This is arguably the world's first narrative film, and the first film directed by a woman. Alice Guy-Blaché reported that she had to remake the film at least twice and this accounts for the two films dated 1900 and 1902 that are available to view online. Alice's 1900 version employed one actress (the fairy), two live babies, and a number of dolls. Her 1902 version, later retitled Sage-femme de première classe, employed a honeymoon couple and a female baby merchant along with numerous babies and dolls. In a still photograph from the 1902 version called Sage-femme de première classe (Midwife First Class) Alice appears, dressed as a man. She does not play the husband in the film, but said that she "for fun pulled on the peasant clothes" for the photograph. Alice's 1896 film was the first to bring a story to an audience and the first to have a written scenario which Alice wrote. The 1896 version was filmed on 60-millimeter film and was about 30 meters (about 90 feet) long. The 1900 version of La Fée aux Choux is on 35-millimeter film and is about sixty seconds long. The 1902 version is on 35-millimeter film and is about four minutes long. All three versions refer to an old and popular French (and actually, European) fairy tale in which baby boys are born in cabbages, and baby girls are born in roses. Alice Guy-Blaché, the director of La Fée aux Choux, is one of the early cinema's most important figures, and had a long career as a director, producer and studio owner, working in both France and the United States. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The Haunted Castle - Le Manoir du diable or The House of the Devil, released in the United States as The Haunted Castle and in Britain as The Devil's Castle, is an 1896 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliès. The film, which depicts a brief pantomimed sketch in the style of a theatrical comic fantasy, tells the story of an encounter with the Devil and various attendant phantoms. It is intended to evoke amusement and wonder from its audiences, rather than fear. However, because of its themes and characters, the film has been considered to technically be the first horror film. Such a classification can also be attributed to the film's depiction of a human transforming into a bat, a plot element which has led some observers to label the work the first vampire film. The film is also innovative in length; its running time of over three minutes was ambitious for its era. A single remake was produced one year later under the title Le Château hanté (The Haunted Castle), which is often confused with this film. The film was presumed lost until 1988, when a copy was found in the New Zealand Film Archive. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Promenade of Ostriches Promenade of Ostriches, Paris Botanical Gardens is an Auguste and Louis Lumière production. This early short movie from Lumière gives a view of Parisian leisure and childhood at the fin-de-siécle. The fashions will probably fascinate modern viewers more than the animals did at the time. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Poultry-Yard is an Auguste and Louis Lumière production. Two girls do 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. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Feeding The Doves is a Thomas A. Edison, Inc. production, with contributors White, James H. (James Henry), production and Heise, William, camera 1896. A farm yard picture, showing a young girl and her baby sister scattering grain to the doves and chickens. The fluttering birds and excited fowls give an abundance of action to the scene, which is one of the prettiest, clearest and most attractive ever taken -- Maguire & Baucus catalogue. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Dragoons Crossing the Sâone (Dragoons traversant la Saône à la nage), is a short film produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. A stationary camera looks across Burgundy’s river Sâone toward a small military encampment. Four horsemen enter the water in the foreground, each riding his horse as it swims across toward camp or leading it by the bridle as they swim. The film captures the crossing of half-naked dragoons with horses across the Burgundy river Saône. First, 4 men enter the river, then another 7 follow them. On the other bank you can see a temporary pier and a camp not far from it. Some men on the other side are watching the ravages, others ignoring him. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

A Serpentine Dance (French: Danse Serpentine) was an 1896 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's company Star Film and is numbered 44 in its catalogues. The film is currently presumed lost. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

A stationary camera is set at a curve in the train tracks, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. From the bridge, a four-car streetcar approaches and turns to he viewer's left. As it passes, a train going toward the bridge passes on the tracks in front. It has four cars as well, with a few passengers aboard. A train engine that is moving backwards follows that train. A man atop a tall ladder works on a light pole. a.k.a. 'Pont De Brooklyn' and 'Brooklyn Bridge in the U.S.A.'Lumière No. 321 - Produced by Auguste & Louis Lumière Camera: Alexandre Promio (Jean Alexandre Louis Promio). Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

A Morning Alarm is an American silent film from 1896 , produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company . The directors are James H. White (1872–1944) and William Heise (1847–1910). The film was shot on November 14, 1896 in Newark , New Jersey . Thematically, it is followed by the images Starting for the Fire and Fighting the Fire , which can be viewed individually or as a whole. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

This 45 second clip produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière shows two Lumière babies seated next to each other in high chairs, apparently enjoying themselves. Suddenly, one snatches a toy from the other and the feud begins. Andrée Lumière - The Baby Seated on the Right Suzanne Lumière - The Baby Seated on the Left Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Le Repas de Bébé (also known as Baby's Dinner and Feeding the Baby) is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring Andrée Lumière. The film formed part of the first commercial presentation of the Lumière Cinématographe on December 28, 1895 at the Salon Indien, Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Les Forgerons (also known as The Blacksmiths) is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Louis Lumière. Given its age, this short film is available to freely download from the Internet. The film formed part of the first commercial presentation of the Lumière Cinématographe on 28 December 1895 at the Salon Indien, Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capuchins, Paris. As with all early Lumière movies, this film was made in a 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It was filmed by means of the Cinématographe, an all-in-one camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. Two men stand working as blacksmiths. The one on the left of the screen repeatedly hammers an anvil while the man on the right winds a device. The man of the left then removes the metal he was hammering and places it into a bucket of water. At the end of the film a third man walks onto the screen from the left, with a wine glass and bottle in hand, hands the glass to the smith at the anvil, and begins to pour him a drink. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The Mechanical Butcher (original title:La Charcuterie mécanique) is an 1895 "humorous subject" (as classed by its makers) created by the Lumière Brothers. Phil Hardy's The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction classes it as the first science fiction film. The film purports to show a machine that automatically turns a live pig into various pork products; in the film, a live pig is placed inside a stand and finished products are then lifted out of the other end of the stand. The theme was widely repeated in films such as Making Sausages (aka The End of All Things) (1897) by George Albert Smith, which depicted cats and dogs being converted into sausage (along with a duck and a boot) by a machine. Smith recorded the first sale to Owen Brooks on December 22, 1897. American Mutoscope and Biograph made The Sausage Machine the same year, which was a parody of the conveyor belt system. Edison Studios followed with Fun in a Butcher Shop (1901) and Dog Factory (1904), both of which showed pet dogs being turned into sausages. The former showed simply a primitive crank, while the latter film depicted an electric machine with a reversible process. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

La Mer (Baignade en mer) is a French film directed by Louis Lumière, released in 1895 .This "animated photographic view", as Louis Lumière called his reels of impressed film, is one of 10 films shown at the Indian Salon of the Grand Café from December 28, 1895. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Annabelle Serpentine Dance is a short silent American film produced and distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company in 1895. It is one of several released by the studio the late 19th century. Each short film depicts the popular serpentine dance performed by Annabelle Moore. Many of the prints were distributed in color, which was hand-tinted. The dance is performed in succession in a lockoff shot. The first is in a flowing skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended. She smiles, wearing butterfly wings on her back and the wings of Mercury in her hair. Her dance emphasizes the movement of her visible, bare legs. She kicks high, bows, and moves to her right and left. The second dancer has a voluminous, long skirt, and holds sticks in each hand attached to the skirt's outer edges. The flowing patterns of the skirt from her arm movements give the second scene a different feeling from the first. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Robetta and Doretto, No 2 , 1894 is a fragment of an American short silent film. Performers: Phil Doretto (aka Phil Lauter) and Robetta. "The pursuit of Hop Lee by an irate policeman"-- Maguire & Baucus catalogue. Contributors - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie), 1860-1935, production. Doretto, Phil, performer. Robetta, performer.Heise, William, camera. Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Hendricks (Gordon) Collection (Library of Congress) Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Glenroy Bros., (no. 2), also known as Comic Boxing: The Glenroy Brothers is an 1894 silent film from Edison Studios. It is about 27 seconds long and shows the Glenroy Brothers boxing. The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete", which depicts a boxer with a classic style trying to contend with an opponent who uses a very unorthodox approach. The film was produced by William K.L. Dickson in the Edison Black Maria Studio. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Hadj Cheriff is an American film directed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, released in 1894 . This film is one of the first shot with the first vertical linear scrolling cinema camera, the Kinetograph camera , in 35 mm wide format , with two pairs of four perforations per frame , designed by Dickson and Heise from sketches by Thomas Edison and the first model which unrolled the 19 mm wide film horizontally, with six perforations at the bottom of the frame. Although the variant title for this film is "Arab knife juggler", and the performer is holding a knife in each hand, he appears to discard the knives just before his first handstand and cartwheel. He then performs an acrobatic routine which is a series of handstands, cartwheels, leaps and twirls. Contributors - Dickson, W. K.-L. (William Kennedy-Laurie), 1860-1935, film producer. Cheriff, Hadji, performer. Heise, William, cinematographer. Thomas A. Edison, Inc., production company, film distributor. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Sandow is a series of three 1894 silent short actuality films by the Edison Studios featuring bodybuilder Eugen Sandow, directed by William K.L. Dickson. The series is considered a historically significant early film series. Promoter Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. found that the audience was more fascinated by Sandow's bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was lifting, so Ziegfeld had Sandow perform poses which he dubbed "muscle display performances"... and the legendary strongman added these displays in addition to performing his feats of strength with barbells. He added chain-around-the-chest breaking and other colorful displays to Sandow's routine. Sandow quickly became Ziegfeld's first star. See the Movie Trailer from the 1936 movie, "The Great Ziegfeld." in our Classic Clips Academy Awards section for Best Pictures of the Year. The movie portrays Sandow, played by Nat Pendleton: http://classicclips.ca/trailers/best_.... "The Great Ziegfeld." is an American epic musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and Myrna Loy as Billie Burke. In 1894, Sandow featured in a short film by the Edison Studios. The film was of only part of the show and features him flexing his muscles rather than performing any feats of physical strength. While the content of the film reflects the audience attention being primarily focused on his appearance it made use of the unique capacities of the new medium. Film theorists have attributed the appeal being the striking image of a detailed image moving in synchrony, much like the example of the Lumière brothers' Repas de bébé where audiences were reportedly more impressed by the movement of trees swaying in the background than the events taking place in the foreground. In 1894, he appeared in a short Kinetoscope film that was part of the first commercial motion picture exhibition in history. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Fred Ott's Sneeze (also known as Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze) is an 1894 short, black-and-white, silent film shot by William K.L. Dickson and featuring Fred Ott. It is the oldest surviving motion picture with a copyright. In the five-second film, which was shot in January 1894, one of Thomas Edison's assistants, Fred Ott, takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. According to the Library of Congress, the film was "made for publicity purposes, as a series of still photographs to accompany an article in Harper's Weekly." In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Luis Martinetti, Contortionist is an 1894 short film produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company. The film, which runs 12.5 seconds, consists of a contortionist act performed by Luis Martinetti of the Martinetti Brothers trapeze act. Martinetti wears tiger-striped tights and performs contortionist poses on a pair of trapeze rings. The film was shot on October 11, 1894 at the Edison Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey. The film is preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was released on the 2000 DVD box set Treasures from American Film Archives, which was compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The footage of "Fire Rescue Scene" consists of a staged enactment of a typical rescue operation, most likely using real professional fire-fighters, in which one of the fire-fighters uses a ladder to reach residents trapped in a burning building. By using children as the endangered residents, it adds extra tension and suspense. The then-standard 50 foot length of film limits how much can happen, but it fills almost the entire running time with action. Directed and Produced by William Dickson and William Heise for the Edison Manufacturing Co.

Falling Cat is an 1894 short film produced and directed by Étienne-Jules Marey, a French scientist. It was filmed in a public park, Bois de Boulogne, and released in France. It is believed to be the first motion picture in history to show a live cat. The film consists solely of the feline falling down and landing on its feet. Marey had assembled a camera that was capable of taking twelve consecutive frames a second. It resembled a short barrelled shotgun with a magazine. With this, he studied various animals in action. His most famous study was his ‘animated zoo’, in which this cat was dropped from a height of a few feet in order to see if it always landed on its feet.

Professor Welton presents an amusing fight between two trained cats wearing boxing gloves. The Film was directed and produced by William Dickson and William Heise for Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Juan A. Caicedo, "King of the slack wire". His daring feat of balancing as he performs his thrilling Tight Rope Act at 50 feet in the air. The film was produced by William Dickson and William Weise for the Edison Manufacturing Co. in 1894.

Annie Oakley is an 1894 short film, most notable for being Annie Oakley's first appearance on film. The man assisting her is likely her husband, Frank E. Butler. The film shows Oakley using a rifle to shoot at several stationary objects and thrown disks. It was shot on November 1, 1894, around Edison's Black Maria Studio, West Orange, New Jersey. It lasts 21 seconds. This film remembers the Wild West shows of Buffalo Bill with Annie Oakley showcasing her rifle skills by shooting glass balls.

The first sport to be filmed was boxing, in 1894. One of the very first movies made by Edison was the exhibition boxing match between then-heavyweight champion James J. Corbett and local amateur boxer Peter Courtney. Since that day more films about the sports of boxing have been made than any other sport. It was filmed using Edison's Kinetoscope, which was not a projector, but a device creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter meant to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. Many videos proclaim the first filmed Sport Boxing contest was between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing, but that is incorrect. The match was between then-heavyweight champion James J. Corbett and local amateur boxer Peter Courtney.

"A charming representation of The Mikado dance by three beautiful Japanese ladies in full costume. Very effective when colored. 45 feet" --Edison films catalog (Edison Manufacturing Company). The film was produced and directed by William Dickson and William Heise. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Annabelle Butterfly Dance is an 1894 short film. It is one of the several silent films produced by the Edison Manufacturing Film Company. Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Carmencita is an 1894 American short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish inventor credited with the invention of the motion picture camera under the employ of Thomas Edison. The film is titled after the dancer who features in it. This video is one of a series of Edison short films featuring circus and vaudeville acts. It features a dancer going through a routine she had been performing at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City since February 1890. According to film historian Charles Musser, Carmencita was the first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and may have been the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States.In the film she is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City since February 1890. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Autour d'une cabine (Around A Cabin), original full title Autour d'une cabine ou Mésaventures d'un copurchic aux bains de mer (Around a Cabin or Misadventures of a Couple at the Seaside), is an 1894 French short animated film directed by Émile Reynaud. It is an animated film made of 636 individually images hand painted in 1893. The film showed off Emile's invention, the Théâtre Optique. It was shown at the Musée Grévin from December 1894 until March 1900. The film consists of a series of animations on a beach containing two beach huts and a diving board. Two characters play at diving into the water from the diving board and then appear on the beach. The woman begins to play with a small dog and is then joined by a gentleman. The two play around on the beach before getting changed into bathing costumes and going into the water. They bob up and down in the water before swimming out of the scene. Once the couple have gone a man sails out in a boat. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Purportedly, there is no proof that this film was shot at the date claimed here, or that it is the actual "Traffic In King's Road, Chelsea" Film. William Friese-Greene (producer of said film) told people in 1890, in Chester, that he had "invented" the moving image, but if you read the actual reports, he held up something and said that what he was holding was film. It was never shown to anyone there and no third party was ever able to verify his claim. Replica's of his cameras have made from his plans but they only run at 4 frames per second. However, it is very likely that this is indeed the actual "Traffic In King's Road, Chelsea" Film. Speculation and theories will abound as to its authenticity perhaps indefinitely. Chelsea is in old London, England. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Blacksmith Scene (also known as Blacksmith Scene #1 and Blacksmithing Scene) is an 1893 American short black-and-white silent film directed by William K.L. Dickson, the Scottish-French inventor who, while under the employ of Thomas Edison, developed one of the first fully functional motion picture cameras. It is historically significant as the first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893, and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film. 102 years later, in 1995, Blacksmithing Scene was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is the second-oldest film included in the Registry, after Newark Athlete (1891). The 1st commercially exhibited film and the 1st staged scene with actors performing a role, Blacksmith Scene is a Kinetoscope film first shown on May 9, 1893. It was filmed entirely within the Black Maria studio at West Orange, New Jersey, in the USA, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio." Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Horse Shoeing (1893) was directed by William K.L. Dickson who also played a role in the film. One of the pictures to be seen in the machine, for example, was that of a blacksmith shop in which two men were working, one shoeing a horse, the other heating iron at the forge. One would be seen to drive the nail into the shoe of the horse's hoof, to change his position and every movement needed in the work was clearly shown as if the object was in real (life). In fact, the whole routine of the two men's labour and their movements for the day was presented to the view of the observer. — Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 May 1893. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Pauvre Pierrot (aka Poor Pete) is a French short animated film directed by Charles-Émile Reynaud in 1891 and released in 1892. It consists of 500 individually painted images and lasts about 15 minutes originally. It is one of the first animated films ever made, and alongside Un bon bock (directed in 1888 of which only few images survive at the Cinémathèque française) and Le Clown et ses chiens was exhibited on 28 October 1892 when Charles-Émile Reynaud opened his Théâtre Optique at the Musée Grévin. It was the first film to demonstrate the Theatre Optique system developed by Reynaud in 1888. Pauvre Pierrot is also believed to be the first known usage of film perforations. The combined performance of all three films was known as Pantomimes Lumineuses. These were the first animated pictures publicly exhibited by means of picture bands. Reynaud gave the entire presentation himself by manipulating the image. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

This film features William Dickson and William Heise shaking hands. It was filmed in Thomas Edison's Laboratories in New Jersey. It was one of 4 films testing the new 35mm format. This version has been looped and then slowed down from a normal starting speed to a 2x slow speed. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Two men practicing fencing. Directed by William Dickson and filmed at Thomas Edison's Laboratories in New Jersey. It was an experimental film to test the new kinetoscope. Originally only a second long, this version has been looped and progressively slowed down from a normal starting speed to an 8x slow speed. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

La vague, or, The Wave, was created by Etienne-Hules Marey, a name forgotten by most, but this is one of the earliest examples of a movie from France. This clocks in at only a few seconds and what we see is a wave hitting some rocks. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Sioux Ghost Dance (Buffalo Dance) 1894 is an 1894 American 16-second black-and-white silent film shot in Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio. The film was made at the same time as Edison's Sioux Ghost Dance. It is one of the earliest films made featuring Native Americans. In this film, produced by William K. L. Dickson with William Heise as cinematographer, three Sioux warriors named Hair Coat, Parts His Hair and Last Horse dance in a circle and two other Native Americans sit behind them and accompany them with drums. According to the Edison catalog, the actors were "genuine Sioux Indians, in full war paint and war costumes." They were also apparently veterans of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The Barbershop (The Latest Wonder - Shave and a Haircut For a Nickel). The Barbershop is an 1894 American short narrative film directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. It was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company at the Black Maria Studio, in West Orange, New Jersey. The Kinetoscope film has been described as Heise's most ambitious film production. In a barbershop, a barber gives a man an incredibly fast shave as two other men sit on each side of the chair. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Bucking Broncho is an 1894 silent film from Edison Studios. Its star is Lee Martin who was an actual cowboy "bronco rider" and a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show as well as Frank Hammitt and Sunfish, the horse. Martin's part was uncredited and it was his only film. The film is a demonstration of expert horse riding before a crowd of onlookers. This film is preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and available in the DVD collection More Treasures from American Film Archives (2004). Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise, with Fred W. Boardman, William Cushing, Ad Dorsch and E.P. Brown. A scene from Charles Hoyt's 'A Milk White Flag': A brass band marches out, led by bandmaster Steele Ayers. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Newark Athlete is an 1891 American short silent film directed and produced by William Kennedy Dickson. The film, roughly ten seconds in length, displays a young athlete swinging Indian clubs. It was filmed in May or June 1891, in the Photographic Building at the Edison Laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey. The film was made to be viewed using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. In 2010, Newark Athlete was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is currently the oldest film chosen to be in the Registry. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Two Fencers was directed by Étienne-Jules Marey in 1891, the 2 second clip shows two men fencing. No other information is available at this time. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

This film from Georges Demeny shows a close up of a man's face and then we see the lips move. This film was done so that Dr. Hector Marichelle, the director of the National Deaf-Mute Institute, could show people how to read lips. With that bit of history noted, there's nothing here that would change film history but there's no doubt that this helped what the original cause was. It's easy to see how this film could be used to teach people how to read lips and on that level alone it's an interesting piece of history and very much worth watching. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Men Boxing is an 1891 American short silent film, produced and directed by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise for the Edison Manufacturing Company, featuring two Edison employees with boxing gloves, pretending to spar in a boxing ring. The 12 feet of film was shot between May and June 1891 at the Edison Laboratory Photographic Building in West Orange, New Jersey, on the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, through a round aperture on 3/4 inch (19mm) wide film with a single edge row of sprocket perforations, as an experimental demonstration and was never publicly shown. A print has been preserved in the US Library of Congress film archive as part of the Gordon Hendricks collection. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Dickson Greeting is an 1891 American short silent film. Directed, produced by, and starring motion-picture pioneer William K. L. Dickson, it displays a 3-second clip of him passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other hand. It was filmed on May 20, 1891 in the Photographic Building at Edison's Black Maria studio, West Orange, New Jersey, in collaboration with Thomas Edison using his kinetograph. The film was played for viewers at the National Federation of Women's Clubs, one of the first public presentations of a motion picture. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Just two years after "Roundhay Garden Scene" came this eight second little wonder 'entitled, Mosquinha'.' It shows a fly, in silhouette, taking off. It was made by Étienne-Jules Marey, a French scientist and pioneer in the fields of cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation, cinematography and the science of laboratory photography. He was very interested in movement of the human body, and that interest apparently extended to the movement of members of the animal kingdom. This film lasts less than ten-seconds but it's so historically important that you can't help but really love it. The title and image makes it seem like the perfect monster movie! Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Monkeyshines 1 and 2 (First American Films) 1889. There are only 2 not 3! Videos showing 3 are showing the 1st;. If you watch closely, you will see this. Monkeyshines No. 3 has disappeared and may be lost. For more information, read on. Monkeyshines were a series of experimental short silent films made to test the original cylinder format of the Kinetoscope, and are believed to be the first films shot in the United States. Monkeyshines, No. 1 was shot by William K. L. Dickson and William Heise for the Edison labs. Scholars have differing opinions on whether the first was shot in June 1889 starring John Ott or sometime between November 21–27, 1890 starring G. Sacco Albanese. Both men were fellow lab workers at the company; contradictory evidence exists for each claim. Monkeyshines, No. 2 and Monkeyshines, No. 3 quickly followed to test further conditions. These films were intended to be internal tests of the new camera system, and were not created for commercial use; their rise to prominence resulted much later due to work by film historians. All three films show a blurry figure in white standing in one place making large gestures and are only a few seconds long. Monkeyshines No. 3 has disappeared and may be lost. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge, directed byLouis Le Prince, was filmed on paper filmstrips in 1888. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The Roundhay Garden Scene,directed byLouis Aimé Augustin Le Prince,is believed to be the world's earliest surviving motion-picture film. While credited by many as the first film, it is actually the second film (afterMan Walking Around A Corner), also by Le Prince. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

Man Walking Around a Corner was an early film shot in Paris by Louis Le Prince. According to David Wilkinson's 2015 documentary, The First Film is not film, but a series of photographs, 16 in all, each taken from one of the lens from Le Prince's camera. Le Prince went on to develop the one lens camera, and on the 14th October, 1888, he finally made the world's first moving image. Le Prince's mysterious disappearance from a train is still unknown. See link below. Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince was a French artist and inventor of the motion picture camera, being the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film.He was never able to perform a planned public demonstration in the US because he mysteriously vanished from a train on September 16, 1890. Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince http://classicclips.ca/movies/movies_years/movies_1888.html Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

American Bison Cantering – set to motion in 2006 using photos by Eadweard Muybridge. Muybridge often travelled back to England and Europe to publicize his work. The opening of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and the development of steamships, made travel much faster and less arduous than it was in 1860. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca

The Horse in Motion, by Eadweard Muybridge. The horse Sallie Gardner, owned by Leland Stanford, running at a 1:40 pace over the Palo Alto track in June 19, 1878. The Horse in Motion is a series of cabinet cards by Eadweard Muybridge, including six cards that each show a sequential series of six to twelve "automatic electro-photographs" depicting the movement of a horse. Muybridge shot the photographs in June 1878. An additional card reprinted the single image of the horse "Occident" trotting at high speed, which had previously been published by Muybridge in 1877. The series became the first example of chronophotography, an early method to photographically record the passing of time, mainly used to document the different phases of locomotion for scientific study. It formed an important step in the development of motion pictures. Muybridge's work was commissioned by Leland Stanford, the industrialist, former Governor of California and horseman, who was interested in horse gait analysis. Classic Clips http://classicclips.ca