Classic Clips

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