Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Submarine Pirate - 1915



Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 14 November 1915 (USA)
Directors: Charles Avery, Syd Chaplin
Writer: Mack Sennett
Stars: Syd Chaplin, Wesley Ruggles and Glen Cavender
An inventor and his accomplice plan to rob a ship carrying gold bullion by using a submarine. A waiter overhears their plans, buys himself an admiral's uniform, tricks his way into command of the sub and plots to take the ship himself.

Par le trou de serrure - 1901



Country: France
Language: French
Release Date: May 1902 (USA)
Also Known As: What Happened to the Inquisitive Janitor
As a janitor is cleaning a hotel, he decides to peek through the keyholes to observe some of the guests in their rooms. In room 8, a woman is busy making herself look more attractive, and the janitor enjoys watching her. There are also some interesting things going on in the other rooms on the floor. But the janitor soon finds out that there are also some drawbacks to what he is doing.

Victoria Luise 1913 - experimental color movie



German movie. This is an experimantal color footage that was produced in 1913 during the wedding of emperor Wilhelm´s daughter. Three synchronous black-and-white recordings with monochromatic color filters were used somewhat similar to the later Technicolor system. These pictures were not artificially colorized.
The quality is far behind black/white recordings of the same event. The early orthocromatic material had a bad gamma curve. Therefore, colors are only visible in bright light and with little graduation. Also the color filters greatly reduced the incoming light, forcing them to record with full aperture and a long duration of exposure.
Regretably I dont have many technical details. You can find some information in the documentation "Majestät brauchen Sonne" by Peter Schamoni.
By the way, the streets were actually yellow during this event because a layer of sand was used for the safety of the horsemen.

Kronberger Automobil-Jugendrennen 18.8.1907



(c) Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF e.V.
Germany 1907
Director: Julius Neubronner
English title: Kronberg Youth Motor Race 18.8.1907
Synopsis: Julius Neubronner (1852-1932), a chemist and inventor from Kronberg was one of the first people to film in the Rhine-Main region. He purchased his first camera in 1903, a "Kino" manufactured by Dresdner Foto-Firma. With his camera Neubronner recorded historical events as well as the everyday life of his family. Furthermore, he also shot short sketches performed by himself and his family on a stage set-up in the garden of their home. "Kronberg Youth Motor Race" shows footage of a soapbox race. One of the cars leaves the road and crashes into the crowd.

Le cochon danseur - 1907



Country: France
Language: French
Release Date: 10 August 1907 (USA)
Also Known As: The Dancing Pig
A pig dressed in fancy clothes flirts with a pretty girl, but she humiliates him and tears off his suit; she then makes him dance for her affections.

La course des sergents de ville - 1907



Country: France
Language: French
Release Date: 9 February 1907 (USA)
Also Known As: The Policemen's Little Run
A squat, muscular dog steals a leg of lamb or mutton from a butcher shop, and the local constabulary, armed with truncheons, gives chase. Man's best friend, keeping a firm-jowled grip on the meat, leads the town's finest down streets, across boulevards, through a cellar and up the side of the building to a steep roof, then down again, and to his doghouse. The cops gingerly surround the place, then out bursts the canine and chases the entire force back to their station.

Trafalgar Square Riot - 1913



United Kingdom. A suffragette procession in Trafalgar Square led by Sylvia Pankhurst results in a riot in Whitehall. Policemen are seen escorting Miss Pankhurst away. Some of the scenes here do not look so very different from the more recent Poll Tax riots (1990) or the May Day riots of 2000. (Robin Baker)

Buxton Skyline - 1901



United Kingdom. This panoramic shot of the Buxton skyline captures the famous Georgian crescent designed by John Carr of York for William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire, and the 18th century stable block, with its large slate domed roof, also built for the Duke.
The film itself would be shown in the Pavilion theatre, part of the Opera House built by Frank Matcham under the patronage of Mr Tweedale, a travelling film exhibitor who presented a show in early February 1901. Buxton skyline appears as familiar today as it would be to the Edwardian audience and shows the dramatic skyline outlined against the Derbyshire landscape. (Vanessa Toulmin)