Also known as ‘The X-Ray Fiend’, this comedy by G.A. Smith 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. The central couple is played by the Brighton comedian Tom Green and Smith’s wife Laura Bayley, and we [...]
This witty short proffers futuristic visions of London landmarks by way of a ‘magic’ camera. But while its gleeful inventor turns out to be an escapee from the local asylum, French director Gaston Quiribet may not have been entirely barking up the wrong tree with one of his trick shots – which imagines Trafalgar Square [...]
Propped upon the tail-end of a match, a housefly performs astonishing feats, alternately juggling a series of objects – a blade of grass, a cork, a miniature dumbbell… Most extraordinary of all is the sequence in which the fly spins a ball twice its own size, while a second fly perches on top. In the [...]
From Maguire & Baucus catalogue: Representing the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots. A realistic reproduction of an historic scene. Filmed August 28, 1895, at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. The 18-second-long film was produced by Thomas Edison and may have been the first film in history to use trained actors, as [...]
Pool Films resulted from the creative collaboration of writers Kenneth Macpherson and Bryher (Annie Winifred Ellerman) and Imagist poet H. D. (Hilda Doolittle). Funded by Bryher’s inheritance from a vast family fortune, their projects were fueled by the principals’ interest in film and artistic experimentation. The three were invested in developing a context in which [...]
On March 14, 1896, the Sutro Baths were opened to the public as the world’s largest indoor swimming pool establishment. The baths were built on the sleepy western side of San Francisco by wealthy entrepreneur and former mayor of San Francisco (1894–1896), Adolph Sutro. The vast glass, iron, wood, and reinforced concrete structure was mostly hidden, and filled [...]
The 26th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place on Monday, May 30, 1938. The race was won by the number 23 car driven by Floyd Roberts. Roberts’ car started in the pole position, and was the first car to win from that start since 1930. Roberts led 92 laps, posted an average speed of 117.200 miles per hours, and won [...]
By the turn of the twentieth century, roller skates had become a popular way to pass the time. While the first roller skates had been invented in the 1700s, it wasn’t until 1863, when James Plimpton of Massachusetts invented the “rocking” skate, an improvement on the roller skate that allowed skaters to turn easily around corners. This [...]
This shows a view looking south from Madison Square, across the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Twenty-third Street, to the famous Fuller (or “Flatiron”) Building. The cameraman elevates his camera, going from street level to the roof. Designed by D.H. Burnham and Company, the Fuller Building is an important early skyscraper and a New [...]
The four Miles brothers, Harry, Herbert, Joseph, and Earle C., were pioneers in American cinema. In 1902, they established one of the first motion picture exchanges in the United States. Their 1906 film, A Trip Down Market Street, is an historic 13-minute journey down Market Street in San Francisco from 8th Street to the Embarcadero, [...]
Superimposition of Cathrina Bartho dancing over footage of crashing waves from the rapids of Niagara Falls. The woman wears a frilly, perhaps feather-trimmed, white dress with a low-cut bodice, a matching feathered hat, white stockings, and white ballet slippers. She holds up her skirt through the entire dance, revealing her ankles and lower legs as [...]
A home movie tour of Hong Kong during the 1930s by a passenger aboard the Cunard Line ship Franconia II during its Around the World tour. (Video courtesy of Travel Film Archive)
“Photos of Chinese opium smokers in there [sic] dens in China Town in 1889″ Opium smoking arrived in North America with the large influx of Chinese who came to participate in the California Gold Rush. The jumping-off point for the gold fields wasSan Francisco, and the city’s Chinatown became the site of numerous opium dens soon after the first Chinese [...]
Five African Americans–three men and two women–perform an exaggerated cakewalk in fancy evening clothes. Two of the men wear formal black tie in tuxedos with tails, while the third wears a gray tux of shiny material with an extremely long overcoat and exaggerated cuffs. All have matching top hats and canes. The women wear highly [...]
An animated cartoon about Mr. Nobody Holme, who warms up his sluggish automobile with the assistance of a stick of dynamite. Story by Tom E. Powers and animated by Leon Searl. Includes a piano score composed and performed by Philip Carli. These short satires of contemporary life are based on Tom Powerss newspaper comics. The [...]
The film is of a parade of fine horses and fashionable carriages taken along what is now the Harlem River Drive, in the Highbridge section of northern Manhattan. The view is from the Manhattan side of the river looking north. On the right is the Harlem River and on the opposite bank, the Bronx. Prominent [...]
