A Corner in Wheat

A Corner in Wheat 1909

6.19

On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.

1909

The Diabolic Tenant

The Diabolic Tenant 1909

6.75

A man rents an apartment and furnishes it in remarkable fashion.

1909

Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy

Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy 1909

5.80

A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.

1909

The Lonely Villa

The Lonely Villa 1909

6.00

A gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home.

1909

Those Awful Hats

Those Awful Hats 1909

6.10

A pair of young ladies cause trouble at the cinema with their lavish hats.

1909

The Country Doctor

The Country Doctor 1909

6.20

While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.

1909

The Sealed Room

The Sealed Room 1909

5.07

The Count sets out to make a private room for him and his Countess, built in such a way no one can see, hear, and most importantly, disturb them. But unbeknownst to the Count, his wife has set her eyes on the court minstrel. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” and Honoré de Balzac's “La Grande Breteche”.

1909

Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good

Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good 1909

2.50

Out-of-work, Tim steals a sandwich, then knocks out the policeman who chases him. He changes into the policeman's uniform, and is approached by a wife who needs help with her drunken husband.

1909

Eradicating Aunty

Eradicating Aunty 1909

0.50

A young couple must endure a tedious visit from their aunt until their friend offers to find a way to make her leave.

1909

The Meeting of President Taft and President Díaz at El Paso, Texas

The Meeting of President Taft and President Díaz at El Paso, Texas 1909

3.17

The first meeting of a U.S. president and a Mexican president took place when William Howard Taft met Porfirio Díaz on 16 October 1909, in El Paso. The meeting was celebrated in both El Paso and Juárez with parades, elaborate receptions, lavish gifts and large crowds. Shot by the pioneers of Mexican Cinema the brothers Alva. This is a typical example of newsreel material prior to the Mexican revolution. By hemerographical references we know that this footage was presented to the then president of Mexico General Porfirio Díaz in the Castle of Chapultepec, then residence of the president.

1909

The Little Darling

The Little Darling 1909

4.50

This might be termed a comedy of errors, for the overzealousness of a lot of good-hearted simple folks places them in a rather embarrassing position. Lillie Green, who keeps a boarding house, receives a letter from her old school chum, Polly Brown, whom sin hasn't seen in years, to the effect that as Lillie has never seen her little darling daughter, she will send her for a few days' visit, asking that someone meet the child at the 3:40 train. Lillie's boarders are a bunch of kind-hearted bachelors, who at once prepare to give the "Little Darling" the time of her life, buying a load of toys, etc., for her amusement, also procuring a baby carriage with which to meet her at the train. You may imagine their embarrassment when they find that Tootsie, instead of being a baby, proves to be a handsome young lady of seventeen, whose tastes run rather to garden gates, shady lanes and quiet nooks, than toys. (Moving Picture World)

1909

Le Voleur invisible

Le Voleur invisible 1909

6.40

A man in a suit and cap stops in front of the display of a bookseller, finds and flips… "Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells! Fascinated by the subject, he buys the book and goes home with the intention to test the invisibility formula described by the author…

1909

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe 1909

5.14

As Poe's lover is slowly dying, he struggles to make money to care for her.

1909

A Drunkard's Reformation

A Drunkard's Reformation 1909

5.50

A man arrives home late and drunk as usual. His wife reminds him that he's supposed to take their daughter out to a play. While watching the play, he's faced with his own drinking evils and how his life would be without them.

1909

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream 1909

4.77

An early film adaptation of the Bard's comic fantasy-- and perhaps the first screen adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

1909

Whimsical Illusions

Whimsical Illusions 1909

6.10

In this hand-colored short, a magician and his assistant do a series of magic tricks, including making potted plants appear, among others. Melies played the magician, and the actor Manuel played his assistant.

1909

The Road Agents

The Road Agents 1909

3.50

Road Agents begins as a pair of outlaws prepares to rob a stagecoach. Donning masks and brandishing six-guns, the bad guys relieve the passengers of their valuables and also make off with a box full of payroll money. As the sheriff organizes a posse, the bandits are seen dividing their loot. The greedier of the two crooks beats up his partner and absconds with their ill-gotten gains. The other bandit, thirsting for revenge, joins the sheriff's posse to track down his former chum.

1909

Getting Even

Getting Even 1909

3.75

All the young men in the mining camp flirt with Lucy. Bud, the youngest of them, doesn't stand a chance. At a dance, Bud dresses as a woman and all the men flirt with him and abandon Lucy. When his disguise is revealed, the other men are too embarrassed to approach Lucy, and Bud dances the rest of the night with her.

1909

A Trap for Santa Claus

A Trap for Santa Claus 1909

5.50

The children of a household attempt to capture Santa, but they catch something else entirely.

1909