Videoteca

The Sick Kitten 1903 star_border 5.6
A simple scene of two rather flamboyantly-dressed Edwardian children attempting to feed a spoonful of medicine to a sick kitten. The film is important for being one of the earliest films to cut to a close-up, then back again to the same medium shot as before.

Tommy and the Mouse in the Art School 1902
A boy releases a mouse and frightens a model.

Grandma's Reading Glass 1900 star_border 6.4
A child borrows his grandmother's magnifying glass to look at a newspaper ad for Bovril, at a watch, and then at a bird. The child shows grandma what he is doing. The child looks next at grandma's eye, then at a kitten.

The Old Maid's Valentine 1900 star_border 3.8
An old spinster receives an unexpected Valentine's letter.

As Seen Through a Telescope 1900 star_border 5.5
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 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 do now?

A Quick Shave and Brush Up 1900 star_border 4.2
A man attempts to shave with a blunt razor.

Let Me Dream Again 1900 star_border 5.7
Possibly the first film to utilize the technique of focus pulling. A man kisses a beautiful and lively woman, then the image blurs and dissolves into a clear image of the man waking up to his nagging wife.

The Kiss in the Tunnel 1899 star_border 5.8
Produced and directed by George Albert Smith, the film shows a couple sharing a brief kiss as their train passes through a tunnel. The Kiss in the Tunnel is said to mark the beginnings of narrative editing. It is in fact, two films in one, hence the 2 min length. Firstly, the G.A. Smith film here for the central cheeky scene in the carriage. The train view footage however is Cecil Hepworth's work, entitled 'View From An Engine Front - Shilla Mill Tunnel', edited into two halves in order to provide a visual narrative of the train entering the tunnel before the kiss and then leaving afterwards. More information about the filming of the phantom train ride can be found searching for the Hepworth film separately.

The Inexhaustible Cab 1899 star_border 3.3
A cab is hailed in front of a palatial mansion by a gentleman who wishes a score of people driven to another part of the city. A clown jumps out and a satisfactory agreement is made between the clown and the gentleman, and a score or so of persons are hustled in one at a time until the clown succeeds in piling in the whole lot except Bridget, who is carrying a child. The persistent clown, in order to assist the nurse, who tips the scale at 400 pounds, takes the child from her. After caressing it he tosses it on top of the cab. He then picks up a board and uses it with good effect on the extremities of the fat woman, until she is forced into the cab, which drives away with its load of humanity.

Santa Claus 1898 star_border 6.2
Santa arrives at a house on Christmas Eve to deliver his presents for the children.

Cinderella 1898 star_border 5.6
An adaptation of the folk tale.

Early Fashions on Brighton Pier 1898 star_border 5
George Smith's picture of the crowds out for a stroll on what I imagine is Brighton Pier.

The Haunted Castle 1897 star_border 4.6
George Albert Smith's remake of Georges Méliès - Le Manoir du diable (The Haunted Castle) from 1896. This film is lost or never existed. Copies of it online are actually a Méliès film.

Making Sausages 1897 star_border 4.6
A butcher's crew make sausages from dogs and cats and old boots...

The X-Ray Fiend 1897 star_border 5.5
A romantic couple are transformed into skeletons via X-Rays. The film 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.

Comic Shaving 1897 star_border 3.3
A man comes in for a shave in this film of a popular stage act.

Weary Willie 1897 star_border 3
Comic hijinks with a malodorous tramp

The Maid in the Garden 1897
Master kisses maid behind a blanket on the clothes line and is seen by his wife.

Hanging Out the Clothes 1897 star_border 3
Lovers are comically interrupted

The Miller and the Sweep 1897 star_border 5.3
In front of a flour mill, two men fight. One is the miller, and he's swinging a bag of flour in the scuffle. The other is a chimney sweep, and he's swinging what may be a bag of flour, but when it breaks open, it's clearly something else. Well into the havoc, spectators gather and give chase to the flour-covered sweep and the "well-sooted" miller.

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