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Birthday:
07-01-1873
Deathday:
03-24-1968 (94 years)
Birthplace:
Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France
Biography
Alice Guy-Blaché (July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968) is generally considered to be the world's first female director. French-born Alice Guy entered the film business as a secretary at Gaumont-Paris in 1896. The next year Gaumont changed from manufacturing cameras to producing movies, and Guy became one of its first film directors. She impressed the company so much with the output (she averaged two two-reelers a week) and quality of her productions that by 1905 she was made the company's production director, supervising the company's other directors. In 1907 she married Herbert Blaché, an Englishman who ran the company's British and German offices. The pair soon went to the U.S. to set up the company's operations there. In 1910 she set up her own production company in New York and built a studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After a period of critical and financial success, her company's fortunes declined and she eventually shut down the studio. Although she secured work directing films for several major Hollywood studios, she returned to France in 1922 after her divorce from Blache. She was never able to secure any directorial jobs there, and never made a film again. In 1964 she returned to the U.S. and lived in Mahwah, New Jersey - not far from where her original studios were - with her daughters, where she died in 1968.
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Alice Guy, the First Female Filmmaker
Act like Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
event2021 star_border 7.3
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Who, apart from moviegoers, knows Alice Guy (1873-1968) today? However, she was the first woman behind the camera and the first female director and producer of fiction films in history.
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy
event1896 star_border 5.2
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A brief fantasy tale involving a strange fairy who can produce and deliver babies coming out of cabbages. This film is lost or never existed. Copies of it online are actually the 1900 remake.
Spain
Act like Self - Presenter
event1905 star_border 5.7
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This is a compilation of some of the films that Alice Guy filmed in Spain from mid-October to the end of November, 1905 (catalogue numbers 1371 to 1384) that were individually released in early 1906.
Alice Guy Films a 'Phonoscène' in the Studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris
Act like Herself, the director
event1907 star_border 6
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Behind-the-scenes footage showing Alice Guy directing an early sound film.
Animated Portrait Shot by L and A Lumière
Act like Herself
event1895
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An early Kinora demonstration film.
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2018 star_border 7.3
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The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché
Act like Self (archive footage)
event1995 star_border 6.1
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A biodoc about the first female filmmaker and her relative disappearance from the history of cinema.
The Women Who Run Hollywood
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2016 star_border 7
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The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy, the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote screenplays for the Hollywood Star Mary Pickford and won two Oscars, Dorothy Arzner was the most powerful film director in Hollywood. And what do all of them have in common? They are all women and they have all been forgotten. Incredibly, it also took until 2010 for the first woman, Kathryn Bigelow, to win the Oscar for Best Director. Even if underrepresented women have always played a big part in Hollywood and it is this part of the film history left untold that this documentary sets out to uncover.
Mireille
event1906
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"Mireille" was filmed at the end of May, 1906, by a small team including Alice Guy, Herbert Blaché, Louis Feuillade and Yvonne Mugnier-Serand at the estate of the Marquis Folco de Baroncelli-Javon in Camargue, during their visit to Nîmes to attend the Gran Corrida organized by the local press association. Ultimately, the film never saw the light of day due to technical problems. (Maurice Gianati et Laurent Mannoni (dir.), Alice Guy, Léon Gaumont et les débuts du film sonore, New Barnet, John Libbey Publishing, 2012, p. 45).
A Collection of Silent Films, Given Sound
Act like The Groom
new_releases Release: December 28, 2025
A compellation of many silent films from all over the world, given music and sound design.
Gaumont Treasures 1897-1913
Director (1 ep.)
event2005 star_border 10
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A 3 Part Collection of More Than 75 Early Films by Alice Guy, Louis Feuillade and Léonce Perret. The invention of cinema—and its growth into a sophisticated art form—are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself.
When Marian was Married
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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Silent, b&w, 35 mm.
L'arroseur arrosé
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 5.5
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Remake of the 1895 by the Lumière Brothers. A similar scene is filmed from a different angle, and a young man has replaced the prankster child.
Making an American Citizen
Producer (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 4.9
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A recent immigrant learns several hard lessons about how husbands in America are expected to behave.
Félix Mayol Performs "The Trottins' Polka"
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 5
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Félix Mayol performs The Trottins Polka (La Polka des Trottins, by A. Trebitsch and H. Christine) in this phonoscene by Alice Guy. This early form of music video was created using a chronophone recording of Mayol, who was then filmed "lip singing". Guy would film phonoscenes of all three major Belle Époque celebrities in France: Polin, Félix Mayol, and Dranem.
Le Cake-walk de nouveau cirque
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.7
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Unverified phonoscene (chronograph #7 in Gaumont catalogue?) showing a performance of the cake walk.
A Sticky Woman
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.6
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A lady uses her maid to lick her stamps, when an overtly excited man notices the maid, forcibly kisses her, and they wind up stuck to each other.
Madame's Cravings
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.9
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A pregnant woman steals things from others on account of her cravings.
Félix Mayol Performs "White Lilacs"
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.9
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Felix Mayol performs Théodore Botrel's 'Lilas-blanc'.
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.8
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The stations of Christ's life are segmented into a series of performative tableaux.
The Hierarchies of Love
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.8
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A pretty maid is out walking and encounters a series of military men, starting with a private, who lose her to higher ranks.
Cook & Rilly's Trained Rooster
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.1
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An early sound-synchronized short of a rooster crowing.
Dranem Performs The True Jiu-Jitsu
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.7
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Armand Dranem performs The True Jiu-Jitsu ("Le Vrai Jiu-Jitsu", by P. Briollet & G. Fabri / C. D'Orviet) in this phonoscene by Alice Guy. This early form of music video was created using a chronophone recording of Dranem, who was then filmed "lip singing". Guy would film phonoscenes of all three major Belle Époque celebrities in France: Polin, Félix Mayol, and Dranem.
Félix Mayol Performs "Indiscreet Questions"
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 5.5
top_panel_open
Felix Mayol performs a song, in colour.
An Obstacle Course
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.2
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A bunch of people run an obstacle course all around town.
Saharet Performs the Bolero
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4
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Saharet performs the bolero for Alice Guy.
Polin Performs "The Anatomy of a Draftee"
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 5.8
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Polin performs a song.
Dranem Performs "Five O'Clock Tea"
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.9
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Dranem performs "Five O'Clock Tea" for Alice Guy.
The Stepmother
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.8
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A poor boy is mistreated by his stepmother when his father isn't present.
Ocean Studies
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.9
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Alice Guy films the sea.
On the Barricade
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.1
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During the Paris Commune, a boy runs across trouble at the barricade.
The Dirigible 'Homeland'
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5
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A short film about a dirigible.
The Race for the Sausage
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.8
top_panel_open
A dog runs away with a length of sausage. Chaos erupts as the butcher chasing the dog collides with bystanders who angrily follow.
The Glue
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.8
top_panel_open
A boy spreads glue all over town.
The Game-Keeper's Son
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.6
top_panel_open
The kids of a game-keeper get into a chase with rifles.
The Truth Behind the Ape-Man
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.9
top_panel_open
A gentleman visits a hair consultant for his baldness problems. The latter recommends a new lotion. The gentleman lets himself be convinced and a bellboy is immediately dispatched for the delivery which arrives at the concierge's lodge. The concierge, curious, and believing it to be good wine drinks a good part of it. He then tops up the bottle with water from the carafe. His wife goes to take his package to the gentleman. The concierge who does not feel well goes to bed quickly. When he wakes up he is perked up. But dismay, he is completely covered in hair. At first frightened, his wife and he come up with an idea. They get hired by an impresario in a music hall number, to a big success.
A Four-Year-Old Heroine
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.9
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A four-year-old saves the day.
The Rolling Bed
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 4.9
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An impecunious chap is unable to pay his rent, whereupon he is ejected, but all his furniture is retained and he is allowed to remove only his rolling bed. Pulling this a few blocks, he is exhausted and lies down on the bed to rest. He is soon the center of attraction, and the crowd continues to gather, when the police order him away, and as he refuses to move he is started off by the officers, who guide him for a time, but are forcibly deterred by indignant citizens from further interference. The impecunious man and his bed, which gains momentum as it runs down the inclines, cause much excitement en route, and finally arrive at the business center, where it comes to a stop alongside the walk. Our friend has purloined a fur coat and an auto horn on his tour, and now presents a modern chauffeur. (Gaumont catalogue)
The Parish Priest's Christmas
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4.8
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The parish priest looks to create a Nativity scene for his church, but his congregation is too poor to afford the statuary dealer's price for a statue of baby Jesus. The miracle, then, is that the faithful's prayers are answered by the appearance of angels and the Virgin Mary, who present them with a statue.
The Consequences of Feminism
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 6.2
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It's a society in which gender roles are switched. Will men stand to be unequal?
The Drunken Mattress
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.6
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An alcoholic is inadvertently sewn into a mattress.
The Irresistible Piano
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.8
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A piano entices anyone who comes near.
The Hater of Women
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 4
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Bob Burton is a misogynist who spends time with other men who share his views, but Bob's friends play a role when he shows that he's not completely disgusted by his friend Harry's sister.
The Ocean Waif
Director (1 ep.)
event1916 star_border 5.6
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An abused young woman finds safety and love in the arms of a famous novelist.
Matrimony's Speed Limit
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 5.6
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A man must marry by noon or lose his inheritance. It's 11:50 a.m. and he can't find his fiancée.
Falling Leaves
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6.6
top_panel_open
It's early autumn and Dr. Headley eagerly demonstrates what seems to be a miraculous cure for tuberculosis. Not far from where he is working, the disease seems preparing to soon claim yet another life, a teenage girl named Winifred. Winifred's mother and little sister Trixie are devastated. When Trixie hears the family doctor say of Winifred that "when the last leaf falls, she will have passed away," she interprets the doctor's words literally. Thinking over what she has heard, she determines to do everything possible to save her sister.
Eccentric Dance
Director (1 ep.)
event1902 star_border 4.7
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"Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588, the only extant film in the series), "Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589) or "La Gigue" (Gaumont #590).
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.8
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A machine churns out sausages on one side and spits out hats on the other.
The Statue
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 5
top_panel_open
A living statue causes trouble for unsuspecting bystanders.
The Bricklayers
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.9
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Starring 'Les Omers' as a bunch of bricklayers causing trouble for the local cops.
Disappearing Act
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 4.7
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An illusionist makes a woman disappear in thin air.
At the Club
Director (1 ep.)
event1899 star_border 4.2
top_panel_open
Some men get into hijinks at a sidewalk cafe.
The Landlady
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 4.8
top_panel_open
A landlady is taunted by neighborhood kids.
How Monsieur Takes His Bath
Director (1 ep.)
event1903 star_border 4.6
top_panel_open
A hapless man tries to get undressed only to find himself magically layered in even more clothes.
The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 5.1
top_panel_open
A blind man begging for change tries to outsmart a cop.
At the Hypnotist's
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 4.7
top_panel_open
A hypnotist tricks his patients.
At the Photographer's
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.2
top_panel_open
A client has trouble listening to the photographer's instructions.
Faust and Mephistopheles
Director (1 ep.)
event1903 star_border 4.5
top_panel_open
A re-telling of the classic tale of Faust in all of two minutes by French filmmaker Alice Guy.
Avenue de l'Opéra
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.5
top_panel_open
A shot of a busy street in Paris is shown in reverse.
Midwife to the Upper Class
Director (1 ep.)
event1902 star_border 4.7
top_panel_open
A wonderful midwife helps a rich couple pick out a baby from her cabbage patch.
Bathing in a Stream
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 4.4
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A group of kids play in a stream.
Wonderful Absinthe
Director (1 ep.)
event1899 star_border 4.5
top_panel_open
Gentlemen get into a misunderstanding over absinthe.
Pierrette's Escapades
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.2
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Columbine resists Pierrette's courting in favour of Harlequin in this hand-coloured short by Alice Guy.
The Fisherman at the Stream
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 4.8
top_panel_open
A boy is fishing in a stream when some others see an opportunity for mischief.
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 5.3
top_panel_open
Mme. Bob Walter performs the serpentine dance.
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5
top_panel_open
The fairy at a cabbage patch hovers over the babies. This is a remake of Guy's 1896 film on the same subject, this time shot in 35 mm.
The Burglars
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 4.3
top_panel_open
Cops chase a pair of burglars on the rooftops of the city.
Turn-of-the-Century Surgery
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 4.9
top_panel_open
George Mélies made a version of this a few years later, often titled Une Indigestion, but Guy-Blaché’s earlier film Chirurgie Fin de Siecle (1900) is more widely available. And it’s not one to watch the night before an operation. In this clinic, a sign pleads “On est prie de ne pas crier/Please do not cry”, and the doctors set about the patient with saws, cheerily hacking off limbs, and then slopping them into a bucket, all the while arguing ferociously with each other. They then reattach arms and legs from a bucket of “exchange pieces” (using glue) before re-animating their victim, I mean patient, with bellows. (from http://silentlondon.co.uk/2015/01/23/10-disgusting-moments-in-silent-cinema/)
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.3
top_panel_open
A dancer personifying Winter, dances in the snow.
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs
Director (1 ep.)
event1902 star_border 5.2
top_panel_open
A woman shows off her trained dogs.
An Untimely Intrusion
Director (1 ep.)
event1902 star_border 4.2
top_panel_open
A fighting couple gets interrupted by the landlady.
The Magician's Alms
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 5.2
top_panel_open
A magician transforms a tiny dinner table into a full meal for a homeless man.
Clown, Dog and Balloon
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.7
top_panel_open
Cute one-trick doggie show. The backdrop is beautifully detailed, yet the illusion of depth is humorously broken by the balloon bouncing off the set.
At the Floral Ball
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.1
top_panel_open
A turn-of-the-last-century hand-tinted short, which features two women, Miss Lally and Miss Julyett, dancing at a ball. By the legendary French filmmaker Alice Guy.
Burstup Homes' Murder Case
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 4.7
top_panel_open
A spoof of Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Alice Guy-Blache for Solax Film Company.
A House Divided
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 6
top_panel_open
A married couple, suspecting one another of infidelity, decide to "live separately together."
Canned Harmony
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6
top_panel_open
The Professor will not allow his daughter to marry a non-musician, but Billy, her would-be suitor, cannot play a single note. When he is about to give up, Billy’s roommate suggests bluffing his way into the Professor’s favor with the aid of a suitably musical disguise and a well-hidden phonograph player.
Faust
Director (1 ep.)
event1905
top_panel_open
Alice Guy directed a now lost phonoscene (film that relied on a chronophone sound recording that the actors in the film lip-synced with) version of Faust in 22 scenes(or short films) totaling 1245 meter of film. What remains are mostly postcards containing images of some of the scenes. The earliest proof of this film dates from 1905, as it was shown in a Phono Chronomegaphone Theatre in Belgium(stating it had 5 acts and 8 tableaux). The captions of the postcards refer to lines taken from the opera libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré for the 1859 Opera by Charles Gounod(which again was loosely based on Goethe's play) which the film was based on.
Entrée Et Sortie De La Mine
Director (1 ep.)
event1899
top_panel_open
Actuality film of miners entering a mine.
Danse Serpentine (In a Lion's Cage)
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 5.4
top_panel_open
Madame Ondine performs a serpentine dance surrounded by big cats.
Little Tich and His Funny Feet
Director (1 ep.)
event1900 star_border 6.9
top_panel_open
"This funny individual will make you laugh until your sides ache. He is funny in all his actions, yet when he puts on his shoes you can imagine the noise he can make when he dances an ordinary clog. The shoes referred to are made of some elastic material which enables Little Tich to bow almost to the floor without bending his legs, the spring in the shoes carrying him down and up again. He places his hat on the floor and, leaning over on the toes of his wonderful shoes, dips his head into the hat and comes up without having to move from the spot or to bend his legs. He is a comical looking sight at best, being made up to suit the part, and he will make you laugh whether you want to or not."
The Pit and the Pendulum
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 4.7
top_panel_open
Alice Guy's version of Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum. This film is partially lost.
Ballet Libella
Director (1 ep.)
event1897 star_border 4.8
top_panel_open
A woman wearing dragonfly wings performs a romantic dreamlike dance.
The Tigress
Director (1 ep.)
event1914
top_panel_open
Heroine Stella is not a "tigress" at all, but instead a loving wife and mother. All this changes when the despotic and rapacious Governor of Euturia, whose sexual overtures have been spurned by Stella, orders that her husband be executed and her child kidnapped.
La cène
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 3.8
top_panel_open
Scene of the last supper.
The Girl in the Arm-Chair
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5.6
top_panel_open
Peggy Wilson has recently become an orphan and a ward of the Waston family. She’s also inherited the late Robert Wilson’s vast fortune, which puts her very much in Mr. Waston’s favor. He would like his son, Frank, to marry Peggy, but Peggy “is not his style” and “her money is no inducement”. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
My Madonna
Director (1 ep.)
event1915
top_panel_open
Inspired by a Robert W. Service poem, the story concerns a Parisian demimonde named Lucille who becomes the model of an aspiring artist named Robert. Falling in love with Robert, Lucille endeavors to spare him disappointment by secretly buying his "unsaleable" paintings. Luck of luck, one of his portraits of Lucille, "My Madonna," wins first prize in an art contest.
Heart of a Painted Woman
Director (1 ep.)
event1915
top_panel_open
Young Martha Redmond, a poor girl from a small town, leaves to find a singing career in New York City. She doesn't find success as a singer, but finds a job as a model for a prominent artist, and soon becomes his mistress. When her lover throws her over to marry the daughter of a wealthy man, she becomes a "fallen women", a plaything for wealthy playboys. She meets Barrett, a millionaire's son, and begins to wonder if she might have a future with him, but it seems like he'll turn out to be just like "all the others".
The Woman of Mystery
Director (1 ep.)
event1914
top_panel_open
Norma, a dancer, receives many presents from admirers. Among them she finds a peculiar looking box, out of which spring several poisonous snakes. Nelson, a detective, is called upon to solve the mystery.
The Malagueña and the Bullfighter
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.3
top_panel_open
A bullfighter dances with a woman.
L'utilité des rayons x
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 4
top_panel_open
Georges Hatot and Gaston Bretaeau with Henri Vallouy, a Gaumont employee, acting as cinematographer. Breteau himself seems to have taken the main role in most of the films and here plays the woman in drag who is terrorized by the X-ray camera at a customs checkpoint while trying to smuggle contraband through.
Greater Love Hath No Man
Director (1 ep.)
event1911 star_border 6.5
top_panel_open
Short film by Alice Guy about a Western love triangle.
In the Year 2000
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
top_panel_open
A remake for the US market of Alice Guy's Les Résultats du féminisme. The film is considered to be lost.
Algie, the Miner
Producer (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 4.8
top_panel_open
When Algie Allmore asks to marry Clarice, the young woman's father gives him one year to prove that he's a man.
Les démolisseurs
Director (1 ep.)
event1896
top_panel_open
Alice Guy-Blaché's second film for Gaumont.
Les congierges
Director (1 ep.)
event1896 star_border 1
top_panel_open
Alice Guy-Blaché's third film for Gaumont.
The Banknote
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 4.6
top_panel_open
A rich man rewards a tramp for defending him from muggers with a large sum of money in the form of a single bank note. Nobody can cash the big bill the tramp is carrying and hilarity ensues.
Two Little Rangers
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5
top_panel_open
"Wild Bill" Gray is a renegade and a wife-beater. He is about to start on some expedition of crime and his wife implores him to stay at home. She receives a beating for her trouble. Jim, a cowboy, rides past the shack, hears Mrs. Gray's screams and interferes, and takes Mrs. Gray over to his friend, the postmaster, so that she may have a good home. "Wild Bill" plans vengeance. Paxton, the postmaster, starts for the station with money and gold, and is accompanied a short way by Jim. Gray sneaks after them. After going with Paxton a short distance, Jim takes a turn in the road and Paxton rides on alone. Gray closes up on the postmaster, gets the drop on him, but Paxton is quick and there's a hand-to-hand struggle. Bill, however, worsts Paxton, and finally sends him over a precipice. But in falling, Paxton falls into a tree and thus is saved from sure death.
Déménagement à la cloche de bois
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.5
top_panel_open
Unable to pay his rent, the lodger tries moving out his goods along a board through a nearby window.
A Fool and His Money
Producer (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6.3
top_panel_open
Sam the white-washer pines for the affluent Lindy, but she has dumped him in favor of another. Sam finds a large sum of money, and goes to New York to enjoy a shopping spree, buying new clothes, jewelry and a car with a driver. Back home, Lindy flips for Sam and his newfound wealth, and dumps the rival. Sam throws an engagement party where he indulges in a friendly game of cards with his former rival and another man, who unbeknownst to Sam, is a card shark.
The Monster and the Girl
Director (1 ep.)
event1914
top_panel_open
1914 silent film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
Across the Mexican Line
Director (1 ep.)
event1911 star_border 4
top_panel_open
During the Mexican Revolution, a female spy for the Mexican guerrilla fighters falls in love with an American lieutenant. When he is captured and threatened with execution, she turns to the Americans for help by climbing a telegraph pole, tapping the wire, and sending out a distress call.
Cupid and the Comet
Director (1 ep.)
event1911 star_border 1
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A young couple is trying to get together while the girl's father is trying to break them up.
The Lure
Writer (1 ep.)
event1914 star_border 1
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Charlotte Baker is drugged and taken to a brothel by Paul, her fiance, who in reality is a pimp. To find her, Charlotte's family contacts the celebrated detective Bob Macauley.
Tramp Strategy
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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A woman plans to dress her fiancé as a heroic tramp in order to impress her father, but a real tramp intervenes in his place.
The Vampire
Producer (1 ep.)
event1915
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The Vampire is a surviving 1915 silent film drama directed by Alice Guy and starring Olga Petrova. It is one of Petrova's and Guy's few surviving silent films.
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak
Director (1 ep.)
event1898 star_border 4.9
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Soldiers ambush a house.
The Dream Woman
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1914
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In this story the hero is haunted by a beautiful young woman who tries to stab him to death with a knife. This fantasy recurs on each of his birthdays, becoming more and more real as the years go on. He leaves home to secure a place as groom, but arrives at his destination too late. Forced to retrace his steps, he seeks shelter in a little inn, forgetting that the hour of his birth is approaching. In the middle of the night he awakens, terrified with fright… Based on Wilkie Collins' novel “The Dream Woman”.
A Priest's Conscience
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 6
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The head of the family, in search of money, dons the clothes left by the village priest. He commits a terrible deed, and later, the priest learns of it; That it was committed in his frock. The priest looks to the Lord for guidance.
Esmeralda
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 3
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It was the first film version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
A Severe Test
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 7
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Daisy Jones had been married just a year when her husband failed to kiss her one morning, and she decided that he did not love her any more.
La Sortie du Bain
Director (1 ep.)
event1899
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A silent film, likely about someone leaving a bath
The Adventurer
Director (1 ep.)
event1917 star_border 6.7
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A young girl is trying to live an honest life in a crooked city. Caught up with a crook that might be the son of a millionaire and other crooked people, she must attempt to reform things, or at least one person.
Danse fantaisiste
Director (1 ep.)
event1902 star_border 4
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"Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587), "Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588, the only extant film in the series), or "La Gigue" (Gaumont #590).
La Gigue
Director (1 ep.)
event1902
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"La Gigue" (Gaumont #590) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587), "Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588, the only extant film in the series), or "Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589).
Serpentine Dance
Director (1 ep.)
event1902
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"Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587), "Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589) or "La Gigue" (Gaumont #590).
The Detective's Dog
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5.7
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When Kitty's family adopts a homeless dog they couldn't guess how much it would be of help in her fathers detective work.
A Story Well Spun
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 5.3
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A runaway barrel wreaks havoc all over the city.
His Mother's Hymn
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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Paul Wellard is leaving home for the city. He goes to say good-bye to his mother and finds her at the organ singing her favorite hymn. For a while he prospers very well in the city, but finally gets in bad company, gambles, steals and loses his position. Unable to secure another position he becomes desperate and seeing the opportunity, he enters a house and is filling his pockets with valuable jewelry when he hears someone coming.
The Cleaning Man
Director (1 ep.)
event1907 star_border 5.3
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An extremely clumsy man tries to clean a woman's house with disastrous results.
Alice Guy - 13 Courts-métrages
Director (1 ep.)
star_border 10
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Program of 13 short films by Alice Guy made between 1898 and 1907. She is the first fiction filmmaker in the history of cinema. It was she who suggested to Léon Gaumont that he abandon simple animated views to shoot small scripted stories. Authorization is given to her to direct, and this is an exceptional fact in a profession reserved for men. Until 1907, she will reign over Gaumont’s production as director, artistic director, screenwriter, experimenting with faking and special effects.
His Double
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 4
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A father who is determined his daughter should marry a count leading the boyfriend to dress up as the count to thwart his plans.
Mixed Pets
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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Mixed Pets is an early Alice Guy Blaché comedy about misunderstandings that arise when a new husband refuses to buy his new wife a dog and the couples’ domestic help conceal the fact they are married with a baby. Puppies and babies become mixed up in cabinets as everyone tries to hide their adored ‘pets.’ The film is enormously funny and shows a poignant understanding of people’s joys and foibles as well as a perceptive grasp of relationships, a Guy Blaché trademark.
The First Cigarette
Director (1 ep.)
event1904
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Alice Guy film.
The Coming of Sunbeam
Director (1 ep.)
event1913
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Proud old Major Neal disowns his only child, a beautiful girl, because he considers her marriage a misalliance. Years pass. The old major becomes a recluse feared by all. One morning, a hamper is found beneath the Major's covered driveway.The hamper contains a baby girl.
The High Cost of Living
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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Old Joel Smith is charged with murder in the first degree. At the trial he pleads in opposition to his own lawyers. He explains that he is now too old to be of any assistance to his widowed daughter and his grand-children who are dependent on him for support. He says he prefers death to a life of poverty and wretchedness. In telling the judge and jury his pathetic story (which is shown on the screen) old Joel betrays a love for his grandchildren and his fellow laborers that is poignant with pathos.
The Roads That Lead Home
Producer (1 ep.)
event1913
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Mrs. Hurley is a wealthy old lady who is rather proud of her antecedents. Her son, a young, clean-cut, college-bred man, like other gilded youths, makes the acquaintance of an actress and the inevitable follows. He marries her, much against the commands of his mother. He neglects her for the companionship of a rather smart and fast set in society. The pace they set is rather strong, and after weeks of gambling and dissipation, he finds himself separated from his wife and position. His wife, now burdened with a child, is forced to seek employment.
The New Love And The Old
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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The boy Is a bachelor of thirty who by diligence and perseverance is on the road to success. The boy's success gains him introduction into fashionable and aristocratic circles. He meets the girl and falls In love with her. She Is selfish, proud, snobbish, and has a great contempt for her social inferiors. The girl treats the mother like a servant, and rebukes her severely when she accidentally spills some sugar on her dress. The old mother bursts into tears. The boy resents his fiancee's treatment of his mother. She is furious that he should take sides against her, and In a rage demands that he choose between them. He hesitates a moment between the old love and the new, and then folds his old mother in his arms.
God Disposes
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5.5
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A young man of high social position sacrifices his home and family for a girl of the stage. Cast off by his family, the young man finds that he is not qualified to earn his living. In the meanwhile his wife grows ill, a child is born, and several years after, the man finds himself in narrow straits. He prepares to go out and burglarize a place. His child enters when he leaves his revolver on the table. The child plays with it as with a toy and then innocently removes the bullets. The father comes back and takes the revolver and goes out. Accidentally, the son breaks into his own father's office. The father happens to be working late that night. The son breaks in, tries to shoot his own father. By the intervention of God, the son is saved from a patricide.
Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 4.3
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Nouveau Cirque performs the cake-walk.
House of Cards
Director (1 ep.)
event1917
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The Mannings are a professional couple--she's a doctor, he's a lawyer--who are so absorbed in their careers that they have little time for their young daughter Louise, who is basically left to be raised by their servants. They're shaken out of their single-minded pursuit of their careers when Louise--feeling neglected, unloved and unhappy--runs away with a young newsboy.
The Empress
Director (1 ep.)
event1917
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After the success of his painting "The Empress," artist DeBaudry (William Morse) takes his model, Nedra (Doris Kenyon), to a roadhouse and, unbeknownst to her, registers them as Mr. and Mrs. The roadhouse proprietor, who is also a part-time blackmailer, takes a photo of them together.
Fra Diavolo
Writer (1 ep.)
event1912
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Based on the opéra comique of the same name, the film follows the exploits of Italian brigand Fra Diavolo.
Dick Whittington and His Cat
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 1
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Dick, a young boy hears wondrous tales of London, where the streets are paced with gold. At night he dreams of the capital. The next day he leaves his country home to see his fortune in London. He fails to find work at first and is almost starving when a wealthy sea-merchant takes him in as a cook's help. The cook takes an instant dislike to him and tortures him mercilessly. His garret is full of rats and he often goes without food. One day, a man on the street takes him for a beer and gives him a coin, which he uses to buy a cat.
The Great Adventure
Director (1 ep.)
event1918
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Ragna "Rags" Jansen has found local success and acclaim in her small town as an actress, but dreams of stardom on Broadway.
For Love of the Flag
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5
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Melodrama with the trappings of a military firm
A Terrible Lesson
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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The story involves a man who goes to a gambling den regardless of the protestations of his wife. He is extremely lucky and his luck attracts attention. Strangers become friendly with him and he being a "good feller," "sets up" the crowd. After the night's playing, he is advised by the owner of the den that it would be hazardous for him to attempt going home alone with so much cash on his person. Chance decides to remain over night. He is shown to a room. During the night, he not only finds that he has been trapped, but an attempt is made on his life. (Moving Picture World)
In a Bamboo Hut
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 3.5
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Alice Guy experiment with visuals and sound by Félix Mayol.
What Is a Flag?
Director (1 ep.)
event1909 star_border 5
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M. Dona appears in this Alice Guy film where he performs the title song.
Frozen on Love's Trail
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6
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A white girl, living with her father at the barracks near an Indian reservation, is very kind to a half-breed Indian. He falls in love with her but she does not encourage him. However, she one day is about to accept a trinket from him, when one of the soldiers, who is also in love with her, intimates something that does not sound nice to a good girl's ears.
A Comedy of Errors
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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A man mistakes a woman's blown kisses as being directed at him. When he comes over to call on her, she attempts to shoo him away, but must hide him when her husband comes home unexpectedly.
Parson Sue
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5
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A parson arrives in the midst of a bunch of wild cowboys. Expecting a male parson, the boys set out in full force to receive him, but on the road when they suddenly run into the one-horse shay of a female parson, they keel over in surprise. Right after her arrival the boys begin to lay plans to get in right, while the parson loses no time in starting a campaign for the defeat of Satan. She begins by posting a sign near the town horse trough to the effect that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Of course the boys see the sign and immediately there is a sudden disposition among them to make use of soap, water and brush. One cowboy in particular is very much in love with the parson. He shows his affection only too plainly, and so the boys decide to play a trick on him. Their practical joke unintentionally is not only the means of frustrating a plot against the parson, but it brings the parson and her lover together.
Starting Something
Director (1 ep.)
event1911 star_border 5.3
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A suffragette gets her husband drunk, leading to an escalating parade of mishaps as more people get drunk on their "lime juice."
The Sock
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 3.5
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A man dancing at a party finds one of his socks has fallen down. Retreating where no one can see him, he removes the offending item. the consequences are not long in coming in this very short -- two minutes -- comedy from Alice Guy.
Le cireur distrait
Director (1 ep.)
event1905 star_border 3
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A man stops to have his shoes polished by a young boy. A woman, passing by, has her garter slip to the ground. She replaces it, raising her skirt to do so; the boy is distracted.
The Thief
Director (1 ep.)
event1913
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Three wartime friends, two wealthy, and one poor, reunite at an upscale dinner party. Things take a turn when the poor man is accused of stealing something.
A Man's a Man
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6
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A Jewish man is treated poorly by a member of the upper-class. When tragedy strikes, the Jewish man has an opportunity for revenge, but he turns the other cheek.
The Strike
Director (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 6
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At a large factory, the workers decide to strike. Although the leader of the workers believes his boss is treating them unfairly, the strike movement spirals out of control.
Butterfly Dances
Director (1 ep.)
event2007
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Selection of hand-painted films made from serpentine dance performances between 1895 and 1907, with original music by Carol Robinson. Produced for ARTE / Lobster Films.
Cousins of Sherlocko
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 6
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Two mediocre detectives try and catch a notorious pickpocket. Meanwhile, an innocent man is mistaken for the pickpocket and is forced to put on a disguise to evade capture.
Officer Henderson
Director (1 ep.)
event1913 star_border 5
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Two policemen are required to dress as women to catch pickpockets.
The Sewer
Producer (1 ep.)
event1912 star_border 5
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A noted philanthropist is captured by a rowdy gang, but one of the children involved resists the gang's insistence that he turn to a life of crime.
Course de taureaux
Director (1 ep.)
event1906
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The film was taken the 27th of May, 1906 during the Gran Corrida organized by the Press Association of Nîmes. Although lost, it should not be confused with "Course de taureaux à Nîmes" (1910).
Broken Oaths
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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Vinnie, Colonel Beggs' daughter, complains to her father that Lieutenant Sterling is paying her unwelcome attentions. The Colonel assures his daughter that she has no cause for fear. He immediately forgets the incident, as important military developments occupy his time. But soon Vinnie has a more serious complaint, and the Colonel is forced to act.
Les malabares: Les acrobats
Director (1 ep.)
event1902
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"Les Acrobats" is the second short film (out of 5) in the series "Les Malabares", which were filmed during the exhibition of the Malabari, an Indian tribe from the Malabar region, in the Jardin d'Acclimatation from August 15 to October 5, 1902. In this film, the Malabars perform various acrobatic exercises. Some dance on a rope stretched at the end of two bamboos stuck in the ground, carry on their head in perfect balance a pile of earthenware vessels. Others climb like monkeys with a surprising agility, perform the dance of GUYARATIS birds, scratch their heads, peck the ground.
Bonsoir
Co-Director (1 ep.)
event1910 star_border 5
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Early short film by Emile Cohl
The Fairy of Spring
Director (1 ep.)
event1906 star_border 4
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The Spring Fairy gives a beautiful gift to a welcoming couple.
Shadows of the Moulin Rouge
Director (1 ep.)
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A Parisian doctor, infatuated with the wife of his benefactor, drugs and kidnaps her, and tries to convince the husband that she is dead. This film is lost.
The Rogues of Paris
Director (1 ep.)
event1913
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An heiress is saved from the predations of a gang of gentleman crooks by a female detective and her father.
The Violin Maker of Nuremberg
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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Two apprentice violin makers are in love with the same girl, who happens to be the daughter of their mentor. A violin competition is scheduled, with the winner being the one who will marry the girl.
Mignon
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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Noble born Mignon is stolen by a band of gypsies as a child. Her mother dies from grief and her father, unhinged by the double blow, gives up his ancestral home for the roaming life of a minstrel wandering from place to place in search of his child. Ill-treated by the gypsies in time she is rescued by traveling student Guglielno, with whom she falls in love. But he is enamored by the seductive actress Filina. Events come to a climax at a castle where all the participants meet, and drastic actions lead to near fatal consequences until all is resolved happily.
Phantom Paradise
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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The melodrama where there's a mad inventor with a pretty daughter and where the rich hero buys the worthless invention, telling the girl and her father that it has proved good.
Outwitted by Horse and Lariat
Director (1 ep.)
event1911
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Little May, the rose of the ranch, is kidnapped.
The Fight in the Dark
Director (1 ep.)
event1912
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A government agent who buys horses runs into trouble in Mexico.
Key of Gibraltar
Assistant Director of Photography (1 ep.)
new_releases Release: May 23, 2025
A day prior to embarking on a European trip with his cousin Artie. Greg, a recent college graduate receives a once in a lifetime opportunity granted to him by the support of his friend Tina and her influential family. Despite the positives, he is lost and time is running out as Tina’s family expects an answer before the end of the week.
Imitation of Waves - Guy's Visions
Cinematography (1 ep.)
event2025
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Impressionism and expression of a view, Mavy uses fragments of the ocean landscapes of Alice Guy's studies through fluctuations of bright nuances and an imitation of these tormented waves in the eyes of a modern camera
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