The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery 1903

7.02

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

1903

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland 1903

6.00

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

1903

The Kingdom of the Fairies

The Kingdom of the Fairies 1903

6.85

At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.

1903

Electrocuting an Elephant

Electrocuting an Elephant 1903

2.70

This is a film taken of the execution of Topsy, an elephant employed to help build Luna Park on Coney Island.

1903

The Infernal Cauldron

The Infernal Cauldron 1903

6.30

A green-skinned demon places a woman and two courtiers into a flaming cauldron.

1903

Life of an American Fireman

Life of an American Fireman 1903

6.00

Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of firemen responding to a house fire. They leave the station with their horse drawn pumper, arrive on the scene, and effect the safe rescue of a woman from the burning house. But wait, she tells them of her child yet asleep in the burning bedroom...

1903

Faust in the Underworld

Faust in the Underworld 1903

5.90

The German legend of a scholar's unholy pact with the Devil would have been very familiar to most moviegoers (at least European ones), so Georges Méliès' early cinematic treatment likely got away with simply offering a fancifully illustrated late episode without the earlier narrative context (however, spoken narration provides some of the latter in this restored print). Tempted by Mephistopheles with all kinds of dancing and ethereal babes, Faust is at first excited and then terrified by the sight of various demons and monsters. The painted-set designers really went hog wild on this one, depicting the (sometimes sexy) torments of subterranean Hell with in bold terms (even when ballerinas prance in the foreground). (Dennis Harvey, Fandor)

1903

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ 1903

6.30

The story of Jesus Christ, from the proclamation of His Nativity to His Ascension into heaven. Impressive staging and beautiful hand-coloring distinguish the film from its Passion-play counterparts; Its scale and dynamic crowds prelude the Italian epics to come.

1903

Ten Ladies in an Umbrella

Ten Ladies in an Umbrella 1903

5.90

The scene is similar to that seen at Coney Island, where a number of shows are constantly going on.

1903

The Melomaniac

The Melomaniac 1903

6.65

The leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.

1903

The Mystical Flame

The Mystical Flame 1903

4.79

A juggler enters upon the scene, picks up a skull, throws it into the air, catches it in his hands, where it is transformed into a handkerchief. The handkerchief, after being twirled about a wand, is changed to a napkin, and afterward to a tablecloth. Out of the table cloth comes a servant.

1903

The Monster

The Monster 1903

6.00

An Egyptian prince has lost his beloved wife and he has sought a dervish who dwells at the base of the sphinx.

1903

Faust and Mephistopheles

Faust and Mephistopheles 1903

4.50

A re-telling of the classic tale of Faust in all of two minutes by French filmmaker Alice Guy.

1903

The Sick Kitten

The Sick Kitten 1903

5.60

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.

1903

Jupiter's Thunderballs

Jupiter's Thunderballs 1903

5.20

With godly entrapments, Zeus appears on the horizon, engages Hermes as an audience, and tries to throw some thunderbolts. They fizzle. Hephaestus tries to make some repairs but succeeds only in heating the bolts and burning Zeus's hands. Zeus conjures nine muses, but do their incantations help? He dismisses them as well as a visiting Pan, and his fits of pique become counter-productive. Can he get his powers back?

1903

The Ghost Train

The Ghost Train 1903

4.62

Special effects film with a train double exposed on the negative, creating a ghostly image.

1903

The Infernal Cakewalk

The Infernal Cakewalk 1903

5.60

Pluto, having seen the earth, comes back home amazed at the success of that well-known dance, the "cake-walk." He has brought back with him two noted well-known dancers, who start their favorite dance amidst the flames.

1903

The Ballet Master's Dream

The Ballet Master's Dream 1903

5.54

It's late in the evening, and the ballet master's bed has been prepared for him. But he cannot take his mind off of his work, and instead of going to sleep he paces the floor and tries out dance steps. Finally, he goes to bed and falls asleep, but ballet dominates even his dreams. He sees two dancers who seem to come right into his room as they perform, and that's just the beginning.

1903

Apparitions

Apparitions 1903

5.40

Alone in his room at an inn, a lustful old man is haunted by spirits.

1903

A Total Accident

A Total Accident 1903

1

Showing the entire catastrophe resulting from the attempt of Mr. Gorham to ride around the loop the loop on a bicycle. While the enormous crowd watches him he comes down the slide with the speed of the wind, circles the loop, but as he nears the bottom his wheel swerves from the path and the rider crashes into the framework of the structure. Attendants rush up and carry away the injured man. (Biograph Catalog)

1903