Cinematic Era: 1898 Vintage

A woman slips into her bed with the help of her servant. While the film is lost, there is a new digital version based on re-creation from a flipbook produced by Léon Beaulieu around the same time

A young, dark-haired woman performs a dance inspired by George du Maurier's character Trilby, in an early modern dance style reminiscent of Isadora Duncan. She dances barefoot without stockings and is dressed in a long, flowing gown bound across the bosom in Grecian style, with inside fringe and a draped cape hooked to her wrist. She also wears what appears to be a garland headpiece. Holding her gown with one hand throughout, the dancer performs a series of kicks and turns with leg kicks front and back, rocking, and round de jambe.

Noted for the first use of time-lapse in a motion picture.

Italian and German sovereigns, Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy, Wilhelm II and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, walking down the stairs and boarding two gondolas.

"The commander of the 5th Army Corps rides forward with a party of officers. He wears a white helmet, a broad expanse of shirt bosom and a general air of avoirdupois."

A man plays the trombone, to which is attached a saw.

The film is part of Eye Filmmuseum’s Mutoscope and Biograph Collection. This collection consists of about 200 films preserved on their original 68 mm format. The digital file provided is scanned in 2022 at Eye Collection Center, from the 35 mm duplicate negative that was made in 1998. After the first analogue preservation round made 25 years ago, Eye is now undertaking the digital restoration of the Mutoscope & Biograph Collection. “Mardi Gras Carnival” became the focus of attention, thanks to its inclusion within ‘The Artistry of REX’ exhibition, that opened in the summer of 2022 at the Louisiana State Museum.

Satan conjures a vision of a girl, for whom an old man signs a pact and is made young. This is a lost film from George Albert Smith

St. Anthony is tempted by visions of women, including one that is transformed from the image of Jesus Christ Himself!

Vitagraph’s Battle of Santiago Bay (1898) blended real Spanish–American War footage with tabletop trickery. Albert E. Smith’s authentic San Juan material looked underwhelming, so he and partner J. Stuart Blackton staged the naval clash on a miniature set: cardboard ships afloat in shallow water, firecracker “explosions,” and clouds of smoke from cigars and cigarettes. Spliced together, the hybrid film was embraced as genuine by audiences and became one of the most popular war films of its day.

A farmer kisses a lean girl.

Two fighters, in traditional costume, taking part to the national kendo tournament.

Close-up on a face laughing & laughing, then not crying & crying.

Showing Pygmalion at work in his studio on the statue of Galatea, who, on being completed, comes to life. He attempts to clasp her to his arms, when the bust leaves the body and crossing the room mocks at him standing with the lower portion of her body in his hands. Further startling illusions are seen in this most beautiful picture.

Women getting into a fight.

Speakers on the Palacký Square in Prague are taking their turns under a baldachin by a bust of František Palacký. They speak to a square full of people.

Annual pageant commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Morat, the victory in 1476 of the Swiss Confederates over the Duke of Burgundy. The family of Emile Lavanchy watches the event from the left.

Shows steam fire engine in action. Men scale ladders and play streams of water on a burning building. Very realistic.

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

A member of the Queen's Guards falls for the charms of a young woman. (Viewable at BFI Mediatheque).

Hurrah here they come! Hot, dusty, grim and determined! Real soldiers, every inch of them! No gold lace and chalked belts and shoulder straps...

Backstage, between two curtained doors on either side, Fregoli is seated in the center, dressed in a tight-fitting suit and assisted by two helpers. He rises abruptly, exits, re-enters, disguising himself, thanks in part to the arrival of a third helper, as a character with a wig, big nose and light coat; he undresses again and disguises himself as a ballerina; he exits, re-enters and disguises himself as a gentleman with a black cape and bowler hat, but without the jacket underneath, with his arms exposed.

A preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera.

The famous show makes a parade.

Félicien Trewey mimes Pierrot being harassed in his sleep by a fly.

This 1898 film is the earliest known surviving footage relating to the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Sir George Newnes, who first published Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories in The Strand Magazine, is seen here bidding farewell to the crew.

Queen Vilhelminas coronation.

"A splendid picture showing this notable family of jugglers in their restaurant scene, in which they toss dishes and chairs about with marvelous dexterity."

In front of a pavilion at the Fairground in Prague have yeomanry a parade of horse riders in folk costumes. In the front there are a lady wearing a white hat with feathers, man and wife holding hands. Follows the procession of little queens (little girls in folk costumes). The queen is under a canopy. The exhibition visitors are watching the procession.

The title is as detailed as any description can get.

Directed by pioneering Catalan filmmaker Fructuós Gelabert, this short documentary captures the royal visit of Queen Regent María Cristina and her 11-year-old son, King Alfonso XIII, to Barcelona in February 1898. The film showcases the enthusiastic reception by the public, featuring crowds gathered along the streets to witness the royal procession.

“In these two images [see Nos. 1273 and 1274], the dancers are performing different movements; in No. [1273], they are carrying parasols, and in No. [1274], they are carrying fans.”

This picture shows Col. Roosevelt, accompanied by Lieut. Greenway and other prominent officers of the Rough Riders, galloping up to his headquarters, where he dismounts and walks into his tent. This view was taken in the camp with the Rough Riders, and is an excellent picture of Col. Roosevelt in the environment he loves so well.

Windmills along the River Zaan.

The entry of the Torino Exposition is an 1898 film dedicated to the inauguration in Torino from the King of Italy Umberto I of Italy of the Italian General Exposition.

A parade in the Vatican.

​"Sceny wydarzeń w Paryżu" (1898), directed by Bolesław Matuszewski, is an early Polish documentary film capturing scenes of events in Paris. The film was produced by Paryska Fotografia Lux-Sigismond et Comp.

On June 19, 1898, the Italian Alfonso Segreto, who worked with photography, when he was arriving in Brazil with the aim of selling equipment, Segreto was amazed by the view of Guanabara Bay, and so he took a Lumiére model camera and started filming the view. Even though it was never shown to the public, the day of its recording was marked as Brazilian Cinema Day.

Views of the burial in Key West of victims of the USS Maine.

The pope taking a twilight walk.

From one angle, a line of soldiers are shown walking up the gangplank.

This short film from the Edison Manufacturing Company shows, as the title pretty much sums up, some trained cavalry horses.

Earliest known example of African American intimacy on screen.

This twenty-five second film is from Edison's "Southern Pacific Company" series. What we see is a Japanese ship as it is floating into a harbor in Southern California.

A young woman stumbles across a cave that is populated by the spirits and skeletons of people who died there under mysterious circumstances.

Black hooded pallbearers carry a coffin in a funeral procession in front of onlookers.

Film adaptation of the famous French folktale by Georges Hatot.

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

President Félix Faure, escorted by horsemen, marching past the troops at Longchamp.

A man puts on several different faces.

American Indians dancing.

The steamer 'Mascotte' has reached her dock at Port Tampa, and the 2nd Battalion of Colored Infantry is going ashore.

Interesting types of Mexicans watch the arrivals by the train. Sombreros, serapes and mantillas give the scene a very distinctive foreign appearance.

The famous show makes a parade.