Videoteca

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Whaling Afloat and Ashore 1908 star_border 6
A short documentary about industrial whaling. The surviving footage runs for approximately 12 minutes.

A Lively Quarter-Day 1906 star_border 5.2
A conjurer makes furniture return from the bailiff's.

Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost 1901 star_border 5.6
Filmed in 35mm and in black and white, this short silent film was produced by the English film pioneer R. W. Paul, and directed by Walter R. Booth and was filmed at Paul's Animatograph Works. It was released in November 1901. As was common in cinema's early days, the filmmakers chose to adapt an already well-known story, in this case A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in the belief that the audience's familiarity with the story would result in the need for fewer intertitles. It was presented in 'Twelve Tableaux' or scenes. The film contains the first use of intertitles in a film.

The Countryman and the Cinematograph 1901 star_border 5.3
A satire on the way that audiences unaccustomed to the cinema didn't know how to react to the moving images on a screen - in this film, an unsophisticated (and stereotypical) country yokel is alternately baffled and terrified, in the latter case by the apparent approach of a steam train.

The Devil in the Studio 1901
Mephistopholes causes an artist's model to disappear.

Undressing Extraordinary 1901 star_border 5.3
Here we present a picture that simply convulses an audience with laughter. The scene opens in the bedroom of a hotel. A traveler appears, evidently a "little worse for wear." After stretching and yawning, he proceeds to disrobe. He throws off his coat and vest, but to his surprise and anguish, he suddenly finds himself clothed in a continental uniform. He throws this off in anger, but immediately a policeman's costume flies on him. This is in turn thrown aside in great rage and he finds himself clothed in a soldier's uniform. At last, thinking himself successful, he makes for the bed and finds a skeleton complacently resting on his pillow. The bed suddenly disappears, leaving him seated on the floor, and great quantities of bed clothes rain down from the ceiling. The picture ends leaving the audience simply convulsed in laughter. (Edison Catalog)

Chinese Magic 1900 star_border 4.5
Trick film. A stage magician transforms a woman into a butterfly and himself into a giant bat. This film is considered lost.

Entry of the Scots' Guards into Bloemfontein 1900 star_border 5

Clog Dancing Contest for the Championship of England 1898 star_border 2
Clog dancing contest winner dances on dinner plate.

Tetherball, or Do-Do 1898 star_border 4.2
Four men of different ranks play a game of tetherball on a ship's deck.

Sirdar's Reception at Guildhall 1898 star_border 3.5

A Switchback Railway 1898 star_border 4.5
The Switchback Railway was the forerunner of the roller coaster. Passengers sit in a small car which trundles up a swooping railway track then performs a 180 degree turn at its summit before swooping back down on a parallel track.

Fishermen and Boat at Port Said 1897 star_border 4.3

Women Fetching Water from the Nile 1897 star_border 4.3

Life Guards and Princes North of St Paul's 1897 star_border 4

Queen's Carriage and Indian Escort Arriving at St. Paul's 1897 star_border 4.2

Royal Princes in St. Paul's Churchyard 1897 star_border 4.4

Royal Carriage Arriving at St Paul's 1897 star_border 4.2

Dragoons Passing St Paul's 1897 star_border 4.2

Caped Mounted Riflemen Passing St Paul's 1897 star_border 4

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