Cinematic Era: 1897 Vintage

A crowd of spectators listen to President William McKinley's speech during his inauguration ceremony outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Panorama film shot floating down the Seine.

A man has an encounter with several spooky apparitions in a castle that is evidently owned by the Devil.

A weary traveler stops at an inn along the way to get a good night's sleep, but his rest is interrupted by odd happenings when he gets to his room--beds vanishing and re-appearing, candles exploding, pants flying through the air and his shoes walking away by themselves.

Lumière Catalogue No. 706. A moving shot taken from the electric train in Liverpool. Its vantage reveals ships and lumberyards.

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

Wintertime in Lyon. About a dozen people, men and women, are having a snowball fight in the middle of a tree-lined street. The cyclist coming along the road becomes the target of opportunity. He falls off his bicycle. He's not hurt, but he rides back the way he came, as the fight continues.

A woman arrives home after the ball. Her servant helps her undress and bathe.

A marriage procession following the bride and her father enter a church.

A boy is fishing in a stream when some others see an opportunity for mischief.

Along the seashore near San Francisco, a boat belonging to the Pacific Coast Life Saving Service can just be seen as it returns to shore. Several men are at the oars. As the boat approaches land, it must make its way through rough waves and surging water.

An 1897 travelogue of a bullock turning a cog to work a water pump in Egypt. Director/Cinematographer - Henry Short. Made as part of a follow-up series of travelogue films following a collection made for R.W. Paul in 1896.

A romantic couple are transformed into skeletons via X-Rays. The film 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.

Probably the first ever cricket film: Indian cricketing royalty prepares for the first test between England and Australia at Sydney.

Two teams of artillery carriages, parading side by side past the grandstand during the inauguration ceremony of President McKinley in Washington DC.

An incident of the Franco-Prussian War. It shows the bombardment of a house at Bazeille. It is the animated reproduction of de Neuville's celebrated painting.

Officers and soldiers, followed by a military band, parade in front of decorated grandstands.

A robber forces a luckless stroller in the park to remove his hat, coat, waistcoat and trousers.

A Japanese theatre performance based on a legend.

This Edison short delivers everything the title says. In 24-seconds we see a boat being lowered into the water led by Capt. Joseph Hodgson. The boat is put into the water and it quickly disappears out of frame on a drill helping them prepare for a real sinking.

An officer calls his sailors to the deck. They assemble around the canon while the officer scans the horizon. They all turn in the direction of the camera to look in the distance. At the same time the ship is hit! This scene is a filmed reconstruction of the 1897 Greek-Turkish war.

Two men pull a practical prank on two victims.

The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Most movie fans know that the first filmmakers liked to shoot trains entering stations. This example by Sussex film pioneer George Albert Smith illustrates why. The train's rush towards the audience brings movement and visual drama. The flurry of human activity offers plenty for the audience to engage with - who are these people and where are they going? And the time pressure exerted by the fact that the train must soon depart adds narrative tension - will everyone get on and off in time?

Rickshaws and pedestrians traffic on the street.

The main market square in the heart of Brussels.

Two boxers climb into barrels and proceed to pummel each other in this novelty film from the Lumières.

This reconstruction refers to a meeting that allegedly took place on 25 November 1804 at Fontainebleau between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon to discuss the coronation.

A maid is out walking with her young charge when a soldier takes the boy's place.

A street scene.

Another street scene of daily life.

A woman wearing dragonfly wings performs a romantic dreamlike dance.

A 19th century wire-walker performs his stage act on a woman's clothesline. An early comedy by pioneer director Robert W. Paul.

The waterfalls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland, form a cloud of suspended droplets.

The crew of seven dressed in cork jackets, push the boat through the surf; they clamber in and row out to the wreck. 50 ft.

“Shows how a full carload of coal is loaded onto a vessel every thirty seconds at the great Erie Railroad Docks, Cleveland, Ohio. Great clouds of coal dust rise as each car is unloaded.”

A parade of horses pulling a very large and, one must assume, heavy cart. Not to be confused with "Transport d’une tourelle par un attelage de 60 chevaux"

Film produced by the Lumière brothers society between 1897 and 1898 with unidentified direction.

A very heavy turret is transported on a truck drawn by a long line of horses. The inscription “Charlemagne 53790K” readable on the turret suggests that this view was shot in the vicinity of Saint-Chamond, a town where there are factories specializing in the construction of heavy steel. It is certainly a turret intended for the battleship “Charlemagne”. In addition, a view projected by the Aléthorama on January 20, 1898 in Saint-Étienne, and entitled “Transportation of the armored turret of Saint-Chamond by a team of 80 horses”, could represent the same event.

Two crooks throw a lady off a roof, and a hapless policeman tries to capture them.

A short reenactment of a scene from Goethe's Faust.

A funeral parade in Cairo.

Early short film

Several shots of the carnival in Nice, floats and parade costumes, passing along the crowded streets.

Three military men, seen inside a fortification, are firing on an unseen enemy force. The call for reinforcements but ladders appear signalling the enemy is about to overrun this position.

A vaudeville routine: two denizens of the Bowery dance while under the influence. She's wearing a light dress with a full skirt. He wears a white sport coat and tie. Both have hats. On a small stage, she approaches him gingerly, leaning forward. He grabs her close, she leans into him, and he waltzes her around.

The Flicker Alley DVD "Georges Méliès: Encore New Discoveries (1896-1911)" misidentified a partial hand-colored print of the 1906 film "Alchimiste Parafaragaramus ou La cornue infernale" (The Mysterious Retort) as this film, "L'hallucination de l'alchimiste" (An Hallucinated Alchemist) from 1897, which continues to be considered a lost film.