Cinematic Era: 1897 Vintage

"This active little animal has made a great hit wherever he has appeared on the vaudeville stage. A large bag is suspended by a cord so that it is just out of reach of his nose. The dog jumps for it and having once set it in motion pursues it with utmost vigor, bumping it with his snout whenever it comes within reach."

​"Podróże uroczystości i polowania w Spale i Białowieży" (1897), directed by Bolesław Matuszewski, is an early Polish documentary film capturing the ceremonial welcome and hunting activities of Tsar Nicholas II in the Polish regions of Spała and Białowieża. Produced by Paryska Fotografia Lux-Sigismond et Comp., the film provides a rare glimpse into the imperial hunting traditions of the late 19th century.​

Actuality film viewable at BFI Mediatheque.

A harbour view: the arrival of a steam ship in Bordeaux.

1897 indian short

The bear is the emblem of Bern, and the pit that used to house several of the animals was the most common motif in representations of the city, as well as a central tourist attraction.

Near a chalet in a cow pasture in the Jura, at Frohburg (Canton of Solothurn), Jenny Lavanchy-Clarke and her children Christine, Henri, and Bertha watch three lively pairs of boys doing an imitation of the lutte à la culotte (traditional Swiss wrestling). There is even a referee, stick in hand, and a judge noting the score.

Filming of the waves in Orzán Beach, Galicia (Spain).

Spanish short film directed by French director Joseph Sellier.

This Pathe actuality of men and horses fording the Marne.

Silent film.

This is a Bowery barroom. A tough girl comes in for a pail of beer. While the bartender is serving her, a loafer steals the free lunch and puts it in his hat. The girl goes out and the loafer orders a drink; but not having the money to pay for it, he gets instead the contents of a siphon bottle squirted in his face.

'The 'Nordland,' and 'Teutonic,' two well-known transatlantic steamers proceeding out of New York Harbor at full speed, bound for their trip across the Atlantic ocean. The dash of the water about their bows is shown very effectively.

Clarence Dock

A man is robbed of everything he's got and gets in trouble with the police about it.

A companion picture to No. 159 [THEATRE HAT]; showing how every one in an audience can get an uninterrupted view of the stage, when the ladies remove their hats.

This picture is very notable from the fact that at the end of the scene, after the run-by of various engines and hose wagons, an engine was forced out of its course into the Biograph camera, smashing it to bits. The negative was saved out of the wreck and presents a remarkable photographic illusion, inasmuch as one who looks at it gets the effect at the end of the picture, of a fire engine at full tilt dashing directly toward him.

"This picture, taken from a rapidly moving tug, gives a very comprehensive idea of the lower end of New York City, including prominent sky-scrapers, and the Aquarium. The photographic effects are quite stereoscopic."

A Lumière street scene of Paris showing the traffic of horse carriages.

Shot from a train as it leaves a station.

Workers hauling bundles of hay.

Men burning a pile of wood.

Mounted soldiers crossing a river.

A shot of a street in Lyon, people passing, horses etc

"The main feature is the toboggan slide. Some sit down while others lie down, either head or feet first."