1
Racehorse (First Film Ever Made) 1878
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Buffalo Running (1883 Short Silent film)
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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
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
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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
17
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The Count (1916 Charlie Chaplin film)
23:55
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The Vagabond (1916 Charlie Chaplin Silent Romantic Comedy film)
25:53
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Behind the Screen (1916 American silent short comedy film)
23:19
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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)
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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
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A Day's Pleasure (1919 Silent Charlie Chaplin film)
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The Marathon (1919 American Short Comedy film)
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Broken Blossoms (1919 American Silent Drama film)
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Lightning Bryce (1919 Adv, Western, Silent film serial)
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The Mark of Zorro (1920 American Silent Western Romance film)
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Something New (1920 Drama, Western Silent film)
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The Last of the Mohicans (1920 American Silent Adventure Drama film)
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The Penalty (1920 Lon Chaney Psychological Thriller Crime film)
1:29:36
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The Flapper (1920 American Silent Comedy film)
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The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920 German Silent Horror film)
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The Nut (1921 American Silent Comedy film)
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A Tale of Two Worlds (1921 American Silent Drama film)
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Forbidden Fruit (1921 American Color Silent Drama film)
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Sherlock Holmes (1922 Restored Silent Mystery Drama film)
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Monte Cristo (1922 American Silent Drama film)
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One Exciting Night (1922 American Gothic Silent Mystery film)
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Robin Hood (1922 Silent Adventure film)
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Phantom (1922 German Romantic Fantasy film)
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The Prisoner of Zenda (1922 American Silent Adventure film)
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Tess of the Storm Country (1922 Silent Drama film)
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 Silent Drama film)
1:56:27
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Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924 Russian Silent Sci-Fi film)
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96
The Big Parade (1925 American Silent War Drama film)
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A Woman of the World (1925 American Silent Comedy-Drama film)
1:08:57
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Phantom of the Opera (1925) Silent Film with Music
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Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925 Silent Comedy film) Stan Laurel
19:42
100
The Lucky Devil (1925 American Silent Comedy-Drama film)
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101
Somewhere in Wrong (1925 Silent film) starring Stan Laurel
22:24
102
Metropolis (1925 Sci-Fi German Silent film)
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The Leatherneck (1929 Color Silent Drama film) (Alan Hale, William Boyd)
52:41

Bluebeard (1901 French silent film)

1 month ago
97

Blue Beard (French: Barbe-Bleue) is a 1901 French silent film by Georges Méliès, based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Bluebeard".

Plot
A sinister aristocrat, Blue Beard, is looking for a beautiful woman to become his wife. Lured by his great riches, many noble families bring their most eligible daughters to meet him. None of the young women want to marry him, both due to his ghastly appearance and because he has already had seven previous wives – all of whom have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Bluebeard's great wealth, however, persuades one father to give his daughter's hand to him. She has no choice but to marry him, and after a lavish wedding feast, she begins her new life in his castle.

One day as Blue Beard is going away on a journey, he entrusts the keys to his castle to her and warns his wife never to go into a particular room. Caught between the fear of her husband's wrath and her own curiosity, she is unsure of what to do regarding the forbidden chamber. Her curiosity manifests itself as an imp who taunts and mocks her with potential promises that the room might contain. In contrast, her better judgment comes in the form of a guardian angel, who attempts to dissuade her from entering the locked door.

When her curiosity finally gets the best of her, she realizes that she has placed herself in great danger. She enters the dimly lit room, making out strange bag shapes. The room is a torture chamber, and these bags are dead bodies: the seven past wives of the murderous Blue Beard hanging on hooks, dripping stale blood onto the floor. The new wife drops the key in her horror and is stained with dead wives' blood which the wife relentlessly tries to wash off. Later that night, she dreams of seven giant keys haunting her. On Blue Beard's return, he discovers his wife's untamable curiosity and violently shakes her. She runs to the top of the tower and calls to her sister and brothers. Her relatives save her from death and pin Blue Beard with a sword to the castle walls. The angel appears to restore the murdered wives to life, and they are married to seven great lords.

Production
Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Bluebeard" had previously been adapted for film in 1897, in a short version for the Lumière Brothers' studio. Méliès may have known and remembered this film in preparing his elaborate ten-scene version, which adds several elements characteristic of his films, including the appearances of a good Fairy and the Devil.

The film features Jehanne d'Alcy in the leading role of Blue Beard's wife, identified as Fatima in the French and American catalogues. Bleuette Bernon plays the fairy. Méliès himself appears in three roles: Blue Beard, one of the kitchen assistants, and the Devil. Méliès's production design for the film is eclectic, mixing Renaissance, Medieval, and Moorish elements as well as a giant modern-day bottle of Champagne Mercier. The final shot is an apotheosis in theatrical style, as would be used at the conclusion of a stage spectacular at Paris venues like the Théâtre du Châtelet.[1] The special effects are created with substitution splices, dissolves, stage machinery, and pyrotechnics.

The exaggerated size of some props, particularly the Mercier bottle and the key to Bluebeard's chamber, point to Méliès's wish to emphasize certain details in the complex, sprawling wide shots of the film. In later cinema, when a grammar of narrative film editing became prevalent, such emphasis would often be given using closeups. Similarly, to clarify the film's plot within its spacious format, Méliès drew freely on 19th-century theatrical techniques, including exaggerated mime-based acting, carefully layered groupings of actors, and scenery painted with sharp, high-contrast detail.

According to Méliès's recollections (as reported by his granddaughter, Madeleine Malthête-Méliès), the filming process was marked by an accident: during production of the penultimate scene, in which one of Bluebeard's brothers-in-law prepares to stab him, Méliès was knocked over, fell on the guard of his sword, and broke his femur. He finished the film but had to get an orthopedic cast on his leg that night. He was still wearing the cast at the grand re-opening of his stage venue, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, on 22 September 1901.

Release
Blue Beard was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 361–370 in its catalogues.[3] A surviving print of the film, restored by the film preservationist David Shepard, was released on home video in 2008.

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