Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Animated Supplement - magazine film Seattle - 1917



Country: United States
This is a silent short 'magazine' film reel made in 1917 by the Seattle Sunday Times.

The Artist's Dreams - 1913


Country: USA
Director: John Randolph Bray
Stars: John Randolph Bray and Margaret Bray
Release Date: 12 June 1913 (USA)
Also known as: The Dachshund and the Sausage (undefined) / (USA - informal title)
Production Co: Pathé Frères, J.R. Bray Studios
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Artist | Dog | Part Live Action | Part Animation | Surrealism  | Cartoon Reality Crossover | Cartoon Dog | Animation Filmmaking | Cartoonist | Dachshund
Genres: Animation | Short
An artist draws a dog who comes to life and eats a plate of sausages.
There had been cinematic animations of drawings before Bray turned out this, his first animated cartoon, as far back as Blackton's Sketches in 1896. But animation remained a labor-intensive and expensive form of movie, because someone had to draw each frame. Bray's studio was notable on two points: first, a lot of talent in the field passed through his doors, including Lantz, Fleischer and Paul Terry; and he bought or encouraged the invention of various methods to bring the cost of cartoon production down to a manageable level: the Hurd-Bray patents were key to this, including cel technique.
Therefore, although this is not the first animation or even the first regularly issued series of animation -- that honor would belong to Emile Cohl in France -- it is crucial because without it there would be very little: no Looney Toons, no Betty Boop, no Woody Woodpecker.... and so it is important.
But when confronted with the statement that a particular film is important, we are, nonetheless, left with the question of 'is it any good?' Yes, it is. The animation is lively and the sequence in which the dog steals and devours a sausage is delightful. If you get a chance to witness this landmark film, don't miss the chance to get some enjoyment out of your research.

Rues de Paris - 1928


Country: France
English title: Paris' Streets
A short bus ride in the streets of Paris in 1928. Another time, another world. If you view this again, and again, and again, each time you'll notice details you hadn't noticed before. Enjoy. (This review was extracted from You Tube).

Première Traversée du Sahara à Moto - 1927


Country: Belgium
Language: French
Director: Ernest Genval
Also known as: Eerste doortocht van de Sahara per moto (Belgium - Flemish title)
Filming Locations: Sahara Desert, África
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Motorcycle | Desert
Genres: Documentary
Documentary about the first crossing of the Sahara on a motorcycle.  

As Seen Through a Telescope - 1900


Country: United Kingdom
Director: George Albert Smith
Release Date: April 1903 (USA)
Also known as: As Seen Through the Telescope (UK - alternative title), L'astronome indiscret (France - new title), The Professor and His Field Glass (USA)
Production Co: G.A.S. Films
Runtime: 01:07
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Telescope | Peeping Tom | Subjective Camera
Genres: Short | Comedy
An elderly gentleman in a silk hat sits on a stool in front of a store on the main street of town. He has a telescope that he focuses on the ankle of a young woman who is a short distance away. Her husband catches the gent looking. What will the two men now do? 

The X Rays - 1897


Country: United Kingdom
Director: G.A.Smith
Also known as 'The X-Ray Fiend', this comedy by G.A. Smith combines two very recent innovations: Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, and Georges Méliès' accidental realisation of the special-effects potential of the jump-cut in 1896. The central couple is played by the Brighton comedian Tom Green and Smith's wife Laura Bayley, and we know that they were filmed in October 1897 from Smith's cashbook, now preserved in the BFI National Archive.

World's First Helicopters - The Good, The Bad and The Sheer Dangerous! (different dates)


Country: United Kingdom
Silent footage. World's First Helicopters - The Good, The Bad and The Sheer Dangerous! using various videos from the British Pathe film archive.
For a full list of the footage used, including dates, and for links to watch the full versions of each each individual item see this blog post here:
http://britishpathe.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-history-of-the-helicopter-early-helicopter-footage/

Monday, January 30, 2012

La Valse à la Mode - 1908


Country: France
Language: French
Stars: Maurice Chevalier
Release Date: 1908 (France)
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short

Friends, Romans and Leo - 1917


Country: USA
Director: Alan Crosland
Stars: William Fables, Juanita Fletcher and Harry McDonough
Release Date: 6 October 1917 (USA)
Production Co: Conquest Pictures Company, Edison Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short

What Do You Do On Friday Night? (c.1926)


Country: United Kingdom
An amateur advertisement for the Varsity Dance Club in Cambridge, made for screening in local cinemas. Its tone parodies the recruitment film, urging ladies to join the gentlemen of the varsity for what promises to be a swinging night out.

A Real Hair Raising Affair - 1926


Country: United Kingdom
Strongest Hair Ever - man hangs from a plane by his hair! Taken from the British Pathe reel "A Real Hair Raising Affair" on http://www.britishpathe.com

Sage-Femme de Première Classe - 1902


Country: France
Language: French
Director: Alice Guy
Also known as: Midwife to the Upper Classes (International - English title)
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Featured in Le jardin oublié: La vie et l'oeuvre d'Alice Guy-Blaché (1995)
Genres: Short

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Semana Santa En Sevilla - 1914


Country: Spain
Also known as: Holy Week in Sevilla

Ukrainer in Wetzlar - 1918


Country: Germany
Director: Oskar Barnack
English title: Ukrainians in Wetzlar
Synopsis: Footage from Büblingshausen POW camp. Ukrainian soldiers attend a flag blessing ceremony. They are wearing new uniforms in the style of the Ukrainian armed forces complete with Karakuls. A Ukrainian band is playing. Carrying their luggage the soldiers march to the train station in order to return to their home.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Seljačka svadba u Hrvatskoj - 1922


Country: Croatia
Also known as: Peasant Wedding in Croatia
Genre: Documentary

St. Kilda, Its People and Birds - 1908


Country: United Kingdom
This was the first film to be shot on the Hebridean island of St. Kilda, and should not be confused with the later film from 1928 ('St. Kilda - Britain's Loneliest Isle'), which is more closely concerned with the population that would later be evacuated from the island forever. This earlier film was by the pioneering bird cinematographer, Oliver Pike, and focuses on the island's bird population, as well as the St. Kildans' remarkable methods of snaring sea birds for food and gathering eggs from the precarious cliff face. To achieve the spectacular shots of the bird colonies and birds in flight, Pike had to develop his climbing skills, with the aid of the locals, burdened as he was with a heavy film camera

Reykjavik, Capital of Iceland - 1926


Country: United States, but filmed in Iceland.
Director: Burton Holmes.
A tour of Iceland and its capital in1926. For more about Burton Holmes visit www.burtonholmesarchive.com. For licensing information contact www.globalimageworks.com

Seeing Paris #3 - 1920s


Country: United States, but filmed in France.
A tour of the landmarks of Paris in the 1920's by Burton Holmes. Burton Holmes looks over boulevard from balcony, Avenue de Opera, Opera Garnier, traffic, Cafe de la Paix, restaurant, waiters, outdoor cafe, men strolling in straw hats, sailors, newstand, shoe shine, Porte St denis, Porte St. Martin, Bastille Day celebration, parade, policemen, WWI soldiers marching with rifles, horse cavalry, Lafayette statue, Parc Monceau, reflecting pool. For more about Burton Holmes visit www.burtonholmesarchive.com.

Seeing Paris #1 - 1920s


Country: United States, but filmed in France.
A tour of the landmarks of Paris in the 1920's by Burton Holmes. Burton Holmes looks over boulevard from balcony, Avenue de Opera, Opera Garnier, traffic, Cafe de la Paix, restaurant, waiters, outdoor cafe, men strolling in straw hats, sailors, newstand, shoe shine, Porte St denis, Porte St. Martin, Bastille Day celebration, parade, policemen, WWI soldiers marching with rifles, horse cavalry, Lafayette statue, Parc Monceau, reflecting pool. For more about Burton Holmes visit www.burtonholmesarchive.com.

Rotterdam en z'n Havens - 1925


Country: Netherlands
A 13 min. documentary about the Rotterdam harbours.

Rotterdam Binnenstad - 1920


Country: Netherlands
Documentary about daily life in Rotterdam, pre-WWII. Traffic, city walkers, shopping streets.

About Bananas - 1935



Country: United States
Complete presentation of the banana industry from the clearing of the jungle and the planting to the shipment of the fruit to the American markets.
 Producer: Castle Films
Sponsor: United Fruit Company
Audio/Visual: Si, B&W
Keywords: Agriculture: Bananas; Central America
Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Implantação da República - 1910


Country: Portugal
Also known as: The Revolution in Portugal
Production co.: British Pathe
Subtitles in English


Magyar Hirado - 1924


Country: Hungary
(c) Magyar Nemzeti Filmarchivum/ Hungarian Film Archive
Synopsis: HUNGARIAN NEWS 34; Sabre fencing world champion Dr. Sándor Pósta and his coach, Dr. László Gerentsér/ Warming up training exercises with the foil/Epée fencing, practicing tempo/ Sabre fencing school and assaut exercises/Jackie Coogan in Budapest/ National Catholic rally/The Eucharistic procession arrives at the Parliament/ Jackie contracted Metro Cinemas before the age of eight for which he received 500 thousand dollars. Jackie cashes in 275 thousand dollars for each picture he plays in/ Jannina cigarette paper exhibition.
Brought to you by 'filmarchives online', the web gateway to European film archives:
http://www.filmarchives-online.eu
With the support of the MEDIA Plus programme of the European Community.

Meteora - 1924


Country: Greece
(c) Tainiothiki tis Ellados/Greek Film Archive
Synopsis: Scenes from the life of monks at Meteora. Black and white motion pictures, undated. The first two recordings are general views of the monasteries on the rocks. Three recordings of monks picking olives. Two recordings of a monk filling a bucket with water from a stream. A monk is digging up the topsoil in a field. Sixteen recordings that clearly show the unusual, manually operated lift fitted with a net. Truly spectacular shots. Two recordings of the distribution of bread to monks in the presence of the stock keeper who takes notes.
Brought to you by 'filmarchives online', the web gateway to European film archives:
http://www.filmarchives-online.eu
With the support of the MEDIA Plus programme of the European Community

Wetzlarer Wintersport an der Brühlsbachwarte - 1914


Country: Germany
(c) Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF e.V.
Director: Oskar Barnack
English title: Winter sports in Wetzlar at the Brühlsbachwarte
Synopsis: Winter sports in Wetzlar. People with skis and wooden sleds occupy the slope.
Brought to you by 'filmarchives online', the web gateway to European film archives:
http://www.filmarchives-online.eu
With the support of the MEDIA Plus programme of the European Community.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Dévaliseurs Nocturnes - 1904


Country: France
Language: French
Director: Gaston Velle
Release Date: 24 December 1904 (USA)
Also known as: Burglars at Work (USA), Burglary at Night (UK)
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short
Gaston Velle and Segundo de Chomon were the two directors at Pathe charged with directing movies in the style of Georges Melies and, using the larger budgets and staffs available to them, eventually drove him out of business.
Neither, however, limited themselves to those movies and in this crime drama from 1904 we have an enormously sophisticated story film in sixteen scenes, using a cyclorama and a film grammar that had clearly evolved into modern film grammar with consecutive action clearly delineated -- compare this to the work that Edwin Porter was doing in the US at the time, works like LIFE OF AN American FIREMAN.

Les Chiens Savants - 1902


Country: France
Director: Alice Guy
Also known as: Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (USA - DVD title), Miss Dundee et les chiens savants (France)
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Genres: Short 

Les Cambrioleurs - 1897


Country: France
Director: Alice Guy
Also known as: The Burglars (International - DVD title and English title)
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Comedy | Short  

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Messenger Boy's Mistake - 1903


Country: USA
Director: Edwin S. Porter
Stars: Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson (Messenger Boy)
Release Date: October 1903 (USA)
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Genres: Short | Comedy | Romance
"Cholly" wishes to call on his best girl and sends her a large bouquet. To find out if the girl really loves him, he sends a note with the messenger boy requesting her to "wear this" if she does. The boy delivers the note and a package which the young lady opens and finds an old pair of trousers and other masculine wearing apparel. She becomes enraged. When "Cholly" comes she proceeds to give him instructions as to what to do in the future, etc., but before she finishes, the boy, having discovered his mistake, returns with the right box. "Cholly" hastily closes up the wrong one, hands it to the boy and kicks him out of the door. He then opens the right box and presents the bouquet himself. She wears the flowers, and things are now all right. Written by Edison Catalog.

Port of London Aquatic Sports - 1925


Country: United Kingdom
This Topical Budget newsreel was shot in the Surrey Commercial Docks. Dockworkers, their families and friends can be seen relaxing and participating in various events, including swimming, water polo and high diving. The main trade of these docks is much in evidence in the open-ended timber storage sheds, the floating baulks used as pontoons and the wooden diving tower. Established in 1909, the Port of London Authority continued with the swimming galas organised by its predecessor dock companies in the late 19th century. All dock policemen had to be able swimmers and established staff were expected to gain their swimming certificate. (Chris Ellmers)

Pacific Electric Training Film - 1914


Country: United States
Pacific Electric training film for Motormen made in 1914.

A trip on the Metropolitan Railway - 1910


Country: United Kingdom
This film shows a drivers eye view of the Metropolitan line. It goes from London's Baker Street to almost Aylesbury and passes through Rickmansworth and Chorley Wood stations. Much of the journey has not changed in almost a century with the same route able to be travelled today. Many of the stations are still in use today with only minor changes. Original footage courtesy of the British Film Institute (BFI) under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence.

Metroland - 1910


Country: United Kingdom
A 1910 film showing a voyage along the Metropolitan Railway from Baker Street, London to Amersham showing the fields that would soon house suburbia...

Alcool - Trois films de Prévention du dessinateur - 1918


Country: France
These 3 cartoons were made in 1918 by O'Galop, the designer of Bibendum Michelin, to warn the post-war population of the ravaging effects of alcohol and tuberculosis.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Ford Automobiles 1903 1917 (1917)


Country: United States
Clip is a compilation of wide ranging views of the Ford automobile in the early 1900s (date of the compilation is unknown). Includes footage of the Ford Motor Company assembly line; views of the Detroit Bagley Avenue Shop in which Henry Ford built his first automobile in 1896, the Quadricycle; Ford cars being driven in the desert and through mountains; a horse-drawn sled towing a Ford pickup truck; views of the Ford Motor Company Highland Park Plant including workers leaving the plant; busy city street scenes; a Ford Model T driving in the snow; an aerial view of automobiles driving on a winding road; a parade of tractors; footage of automobiles racing; a motorcycle leading a motorcade of cars and trucks; automobiles on mountain roads; an automobile being turned into a camper; and an automobile next to an icy pond.

Ford Animated Weekly Excerpts (1916-1918)


Country: United States
The Ford Animated Weekly films were short productions distributed free between 1914 and 1921 to theaters, schools, YMCA's, prisons, etc. This is a selection of excerpts prepared by the Ford Motor Company; individual clip dates unknown. Included are views of workers on the assembly line; Ford automobiles being driven in the snow; Henry Ford and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels leaving the White House after a conference with President Woodrow Wilson; women marching with signs proclaiming "Win the War," World War I Armistice Parade in Detroit, Michigan; troops waving from railroad passenger cars; and a World War I Liberty Bond Parade in Detroit, Michigan

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Les victimes de l'alcoolisme - 1904


Country: France
Language: French
Director: Ferdinand Zecca
Writers: Ferdinand Zecca, Émile Zola (novel)
Release Date: October 1904 (USA)
Also known as: Alcohol and Its Victims (USA)
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Based On Novel
Genres: Short    

Fun in a Bakery Shop - 1902


Country: USA
Director: Edwin S. Porter
Release Date: April 1902 (USA)
Also known as: Tréfa a pékségben (Hungary)
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Runtime: around 1 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Baker | Face
Genres: Short | Comedy
A baker's assistant throws a handful of dough at a rat. The dough sticks to the side of a barrel and the assistant proceeds to sculpt the dough into various faces and shapes. There is some experimental use of stop motion.

Ladies Underwear Show - 1929


Country: United Kingdom
Brevities - Ladies Underwear Modelled in 1929 [HD].
The model makes and displays various 1920s underwear garments, with elements of dance and touches of a striptease, although the video is very much in good taste.
(Was an item in Eve's Film Review. Issue Number 444).

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Toto et sa soeur en bombe à Bruxelles - 1910


Country: France
Language: French
Release Date: 1910 (France)
Also known as: Two Kids On a Spree in Brussels
Production Co: Pathé Frères
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Two children attach their trolley to a car and get a free ride around Brussels. They visit the sights of the city and ride the trams. They visit the outskirts of the city and hitch a ride on a milk cart pulled by a muzzled dog.

Brussels Belle Epoque - 1905


Country: Belgium
Brussel tramritje Jubelpark - Anspach - Justitiepaleis 1905

Belgique Pittoresque - 1921


Country: Belgium
(c) Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique
Synopsis: Advertising film, promoting tourist attractions in Belgium.
Brought to you by 'filmarchives online', the web gateway to European film archives:
http://www.filmarchives-online.eu
With the support of the MEDIA Plus programme of the European Community.

Friday, January 20, 2012

A Quaint Little Railway - 1930


Country: United Kingdom
This short, silent film captures one of Britain's minor little railways: the Leek and Manifold Light Railway on the Staffordshire Moorlands. The railway opened in 1907, linking the villages of Waterhouses and Hulme End, and was built mainly for agricultural traffic, with a passenger service being a secondary consideration. Its route went through beautiful countryside in Staffordshire, and it is unfortunate that the intertitles state it as being shot in Derbyshire!
In 1934 the entire line was closed by the North Staffordshire Railway. There is little in the way of recorded film material of this quaint little train, so this gem gives an invaluable insight into the railway. (Stuart Smith, Midlands Railway Centre)

Putting Pants on Philip - 1927


Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Director: Clyde Bruckman
Writers: Leo McCarey (story), H.M. Walker
Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Charles A. Bachman
Release Date: 3 December 1927 (USA)
Also known as: Vieras Skotlannista (Finland)
Filming Locations: Culver City, California, USA
Production Co: Hal Roach Studios
Runtime: UK: 19 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Tailor | Kilt | Scotland | Dignity | Policeman | Uncle Nephew Relationship | Laurel And Hardy | Two Reeler | Crowd | Bus | Pompousness | Underwear
Genres: Comedy | Short
Pompous J. Piedmont Mumblethunder (Hardy), greets his nephew from Scotland (Laurel,) who arrives in kilts. He is immediately taken to a tailor for a pair of proper pants. 
Edited into: Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's (1965)
References: Lonesome Ladies (1927)
Referenced in: "Jeopardy!: Episode #22.215" (2006) - referenced in clue in "The Oafish" category
Featured in: Dick und Doof, die Unzertrennlichen (1968) - compilation movie
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) - Excerpts appear in the film. 

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Hints and Hobbies No. 7 - 1926


Country: United Kingdom
Strictly Come Dancing' 1920s-style.
This extract is from the seventh installment in the wonderful 'Hints and Hobbies' canon and continues the tradition of doling out helpful tips to the masses including advice on how not to ballroom dance (stamping hard on your partner's toes is frowned upon). Later in the film (not seen here) there's the invaluable pointer that mashing wet bran into your furs will prevent a dirty neck... If ever a franchise deserved resurrecting, it is this one. (Alex Davidson)
You can watch the rest of this film and over 1000 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge at the new BFI Mediatheque - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque

Hints and Hobbies No. 1 - 1926


Country: United Kingdom
The Hints and Hobbies series was a bizarre and eclectic mix of handy hints shown to inter-war cinemagoers. The range of advice given in this edition varies from good, sensible and practical advice on how to treat a fracture from the capable Mrs Webb of the St John's Ambulance Brigade, to the more obscure, yet intriguing, way of how to supplement your rent; improbably, in true Blue Peter style, by making vases for dried flowers out of cardboard and cretonne. Cretonne?... Presumably it's as elusive to find as sticky-backed plastic.
By far the most wonderful sequence (shown here) is advice on how to be the perfect husband. A nervous middle-class London wife opens and presents a series of bills for hats and outfits from fashionable Knightsbridge shops to her husband. He studies them carefully, and sweetly reassures her that her purchases are most reasonable and that she really should have bought two costumes at such economical prices! (Sharon Messenger)
You can watch this film and over 1000 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge at the new BFI Mediatheque - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Brudeferden i Hardanger - 1926


Country: Norway
Director: Rasmus Breistein
Writers: Rasmus Breistein, Kristofer Janson (novel)
Stars: Aase Bye, Gunhild Schytte-Jacobsen and Henry Gleditsch
Cast (in credits order)
Aase Bye... Marit Skjølte (young); Gunhild Schytte-Jacobsen... Marit Skjølte som gammel; Henry Gleditsch... Anders Bjåland som ung; Alfred Maurstad... Vigleik, Marits sønn; Annik Saxegaard... Eli, Marits datter; Oscar Larsen    ... Anders Bjåland som gammel; Martin Fiksen... Bård, Anders Bjålands sønn; Dagmar Myhrvold... Kari Bjørve; Vilhelm Lund    ... Tore Skjølte; Henny Skjønberg... Tores mor;
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gustav Berg-Jæger...     Presten; Edel Johansen... Fremmed i skrivergården; Emma Juel... Sorenskriverkona; Ole Leikvang... Husmannen; Rasmus Rasmussen...Sorenskriveren; Ernst Sem-Johansen... Fremmed i skrivergården.
Release Date: 26 December 1926 (Norway)
Also known as: The Bridal Party in Hardanger (USA - literal English title)
Plot Keywords: Love | Farm | Poverty | Small Community | Wedding  | Widow | Death |
Based On Novel
Genres: Drama | Romance
Based on the novel "Marit Skjølte" by Kristofer Janson, this Norwegian silent movie tells the story of young Marit and her love, Anders, who travels to America to seek his fortune. Without Marit's knowledge, he returns to marry a farm heiress.

The Fugitive Futurist - 1924


Country: United Kingdom
Director: Gaston Quiribet
Writer: Gaston Quiribet
Also Known As: The Fugitive Futurist: A Q-riosity by 'Q'     (UK - alternative title)
Production Co: Hepworth
Runtime: 11 min
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Trick Photography
Genres: Comedy | Short
A habitual loser at the race-track is approached by a man who claims to be an inventor with a machine that can see into the future; but can it predict the winner of tomorrow's race? And just whom is the 'inventor' trying to escape anyway?  

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Coves and Caves - 1920


Country: United Kingdom
One of a series of short films featuring Cornish beauty spots. The style and content is reminiscent of Friese-Greene's subsequent odyssey, The Open Road - indeed, it could well have been the precursor of that journey. Shot in black and white, a collection of moving picture postcards are linked by quirky captions. Look out for an aerial shot of Trevose Head - commercial aerial photography was a relatively new development following on from the First World War. Padstow is a sleepy harbour, without a single fish restaurant in sight!
This is a great record of Old Cornwall - no surfers, no pasties, no cream teas. Eden before the Project. (Jan Faull)
Note: This review was extracted from You Tube.

What The Professor Found In The Cheese - 1900


Country: United Kingdom
Film form the early days of motion pictures showing a professor eating cheese and what he discovered. Probably the earliest existing film of microorganisms

Furcht - 1917


Country: Germany
Director: Robert Wiene
Writer: Robert Wiene
Stars: Bruno Decarli, Bernhard Goetzke and Mechthildis Thein
Also Known As: Fear (USA - informal literal English title)
Filming Locations: Messter-Atelier - Blücherstraße 32, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
The film's plot deals with a man haunted by a misdeed he has committed (his obsessive passion for rare objets d'art has driven him to make away with a statue from an Indian temple). In fact, the plot opens with the hero's arrival at his estate from abroad where he is already in an agitated state and orders his myriad servants to bar the entrances and exits! One of them, however, is worried by his master's paranoia and seeks advice from the town minister and the hero's former schoolteacher, who instantly realizes that what he needs is not a man of God but of Science! Soon after, he is visited by a mysterious man in Indian garb (a brief role for Conrad Veidt, later co-star of CALIGARI and protagonist of ORLAC) who prophesies that, in seven years' time, the man will meet his come-uppance by the hand of the one whom he loves most!
Somewhat relieved, the hero decides to live up the time allotted to him and begins to lead a hedonistic lifestyle which, however, he soon tires of, so he picks up medicine and apparently comes up with some astonishing discovery but which he promptly destroys at its much-publicized unveiling! So, as he often says, "on to something new" and, now, he falls in love and plans to marry but, since the 'contract' is about to expire, he soon grows morose and alienates his intended! At the appointed time, even if he had disposed of the statue in a river in a desperate attempt to break the spell (should he not have contrived to return it to the rightful owners if any hope of clemency was to be expected?), he is so nerve-wracked that he shoots himself…suggesting that he had loved himself best of all! Soon after, Veidt reappears and picks up the statue not from the river-bed but rather from where the hero used to keep it, to which cabinet it had magically returned! 

Opium - 1919


Country: Germany
Director: Robert Reinert
Writer: Robert Reinert
Stars: Eduard von Winterstein (Professor Gesellius), Sybill Morel (Sin/Magdalena), Werner Krauss (Nung-Tschang), Friedrich Kühne (Richard Armstrong, father), Hanna Ralph (Maria Geselius), Conrad Veidt (Dr. Richard Armstrong Jr.)
Production Co: Monumental-Film-Werke Berlin
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Connections: Featured in "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood" (1995), "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: The Unchained Camera (#1.3)" (1995) -  clips shown

Monday, January 16, 2012

Malombra - 1917


Country: Italy
Director: Carmine Gallone
Writer: Antonio Fogazzaro (novel)
Stars: Lyda Borelli (Marina di Malombra), Amleto Novelli (Corrado Silla) and Augusto Mastripietri (Cesare d'Ormegno)
Release Date: January 1917 (Italy)
Also known as: O Castelo da má Sombra (Portugal)
Production Co: Società Italiana Cines
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Connections: Edited into: Diva Dolorosa (1999)
Featured in: "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: Where It All Began (#1.1)" (1995)
 -  clips shown  
Plot Keywords: Based On Novel
Genres: Drama
Note: This is just an extract of the movie.

Sogno di un Bambino - 1915


Country: Italy
Aka: A Child's Dream

Detroit News Newsreel - 1917


Country: United States
Happenings in and around Detroit shot for local news cameras.
Producer: Detroit News
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Si, B&W
Keywords: Detroit, Michigan

Friday, January 13, 2012

San Sebastiano - 1911


Country: Italy
Language: Italian (silent)
Director: Enrique Santos
Writer: Nicholas Patrick Wiseman (novel)
Stars: Giuseppe Gambardella, Amleto Novelli and Enna Saredo
Release Date: April 1911 (Italy)
Also known as: Aus Diocletians Zeiten (Germany); By Order of the Emperor (UK); Heiliger Sebastian (Austria); Sint Sebastiaan (Netherlands - informal literal title); Szent Sebestyén (Hungary)
Production Co: Società Italiana Cines
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Based On Novel
Genres: Short | Drama 

Agrippina - 1911


Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Director: Enrico Guazzoni
Stars: Adele Bianchi Azzarili, Cesare Moltini and Maria Caserini
Release Date: 7 January 1911 (UK)
Also known as: Agripina (Spain); Agrippina (Germany); Agrippine (France); Keizerin Agrippina (Netherlands - informal literal title); Nero anyja (Hungary)
Production Co: Società Italiana Cines
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Character Name In Title  

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Honeymooners reach Japan, 1930


Country: United Kingdom.
Amateur home movie showing Japan.
Busy narrow side streets in Japan, Asia: street vendors selling what could be melons; Japanese lanterns on the outside of houses; people running; a cyclist. Willis with Matsiyama (a Japanese man) at the Heian Shrine, Japan. Shots of the shrine, a pagoda, and a Japanese women with parasol, possibly Geisha. Japanese people drinking water from shrine and then spitting it out. Japanese man in kimono and panama hat talking to male European. They bow . White woman in kimono walking through Japanese garden. People in kimonos in same garden. They remove their shoes at house entrance and enter. Women bowing to each while on their knees. Men do the same. They remain on their knees and are then given cushions. Servant pours out tea which they drink. They use fans.
Rail track shot from rear of moving train. Cross bridge, mountains in distance. Smoking funnel of the train. The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan, Asia. Woman walks towards camera, man in suit does same. Man and woman emerging from hotel entrance and walking towards camera. Tokyo, Japanese street scenes, cars, office buildings. Man in shorts holds flower of a plant. Woman in Japanese gardens, traditional Japanese buildings, hills in background.

Japan and Tokyo in the 1930's


Country: United Kingdom
Amateur home movie footage, many short shots of streets in Japan presumably Tokyo, big buildings, people in the streets, many cars. Two women in kimonos, soldiers, Japanese flags on top of a building, a big stadium, a tram, a bridge over a river, a statue of a warrior on a horse, many people crossing the roads, a view of the city from a moving train. In a religious ceremony, monks in different costumes carrying on their shoulders a beautifully carved wooden construction inside which sits their holy man. They all walk in a row, men carrying gongs, musicians being carried too. They walk towards a shrine. A religious ceremony is taking place. A tennis game. A big gate -Japanese writing on top. A market. A Pagoda. Smiling people coming out of a building. A Japanese garden. A man on a train platform waving his hand. A park, a big pagoda, a horse and wagon. Sea side is seen through a cave's entrance. A view of the cave from the shore. A man on a boat. Passengers smiling. A statue of Buddha - its legs, its head. Views in the mist.
Join here to better quality footage, possibly stock inter titles in English, "Nikko". A bridge over a river. A front road to Toshugu shrine, two people crossing the road, on either side Cryptomera trees. The large Torii gate overlooking a five story pagoda. The front gate, a statue of Buddha enclosed. Three treasure houses are seen on the right of the gate. On the left is a sacred stable. "Famous saying of "DO NOT SEE. DO NOT HEAR. DO NOT SPEAK EVIL", is on this transom. On the right turn is Yomei-gate. Fully decorated with statues and gargoyles, through this gate and the temple can be seen two huge ornate doors, in the passage way the carving of Sleeping Cat can be seen. The tomb of Tokugawa Shogun III. The road now winds along at the side of the Daya River, many cars riding down the rive with many rocks. The Hoto waterfall is seen from the tea house. The famous Kegon waterfall. Lake Chuzehji - its source. Views of Senjogahara. Streams on the way to Yunotaki waterfall. Lake Yunoko - its source. Fish, boats, trees all around.