Cinematic Era: 1905 Vintage

A panorama of Coney Island, taken at night: the camera sweeps across the scene from a vantage point well above the area. It then moves in for closer views of Dreamland and Luna Park.

A magician creates a troupe of dancers out of thin air.

A scientist dreams of prehistoric monsters. He awakes in a cavern. A dinosaur chases him, even though he tries to shoot it with his revolver. The chase continues onto the surface. The professor meets a group of prehistoric women, who flee when other monsters appear. The professor's wife finds him sleeping in the laboratory, surrounded by fossils, and wakes him with water from a siphon. This short film is only viewable at the BFI, and its generally believed to be the first film depiction of dinosaurs, here accomplished through the use of simple pantomime costumes.

A romance between a railroad engineer and the switchman's daughter is nearly ruined by train wreckers who knock out the girl and leave her on the tracks to be run over. The engineer perches on the engine's cow catcher and rescues the girl.

An inventor dreams that his newly designed airship takes flight.

The Melies version of the old Rip Van Winkle tale.

A couple who have known each other all of their lives are shown together at different stages of life. First, as children, they play together affectionately. Soon afterwards, they are at school together, and as they grow older, they become lovers. Later on, their relationship and their lives move on to more important matters.

Based loosely on the once-popular nursery rhyme. A fair is in progress, with refreshments, entertainment, and other activities. As the rest of the crowd is watching one of the acts, the titular Tom steals a pig from another little boy and runs off. He tries to hide, but he is chased by the crowd. The pig also proves difficult to control. Tom, the little boy, and the crowd run from place to place.

Made in 1905 when short films were still being done in just one shot (for the Kinetoscope peep-show machines) and lasted about 2 minutes, this depicts a Mormon man trying to get his wives and children settled down for the night on a Pullman car in a train. The children wear him out wanting piggy-back rides, he and the wives put the children in their beds, but of course they need a drink. The poor mans takes a lip lashing from his wives and hurries out, returning shortly with a large milk can with several straws attached.

A barber cuts heads off Negro and white customers, who then dismember him.

Early Balkan footage.

An early short from Gaumont by Alice Guy-Blanché. A woman becomes slowly visible in front of a black space. She points a wand and spells the word “Bonsoir” in colored letters formed from flowers.

The Manaki brothers have filmed a market.

Based on a scene from Shakespeare's play: Macbeth, king of Scotland, is being challenged by forces led by Macduff. Young Siward comes to confront the king, but Macbeth kills him easily. Then Macduff himself arrives. The two rivals exchange words, and then begin a deadly fight.

A millionaire girl publishes a personal ad wishing to marry a young, gallant man, using the Park's Swiss Cowshop as the meeting point.

Beautiful girls emerge from a large beehive and perform graceful dances. The queen falls asleep and an enormous spider builds his web over her. The other bees release their queen.

Long shots of men and women coasting (and occasionally tumbling) down the slopes in small groups, followed by a number of skiers launching themselves off a small ski-jump as onlookers stand nearby.

A glimpse behind the stage. An old man pursues a young woman but a she prefers the advances of a younger man so the older one gives his flowers to a fireman.

Jones is on his way home, carrying a roll of money, when he meets a neighbor who is a notorious miser. The neighbor unexpectedly invites Jones to dinner, and serves him a large meal with plenty of wine. After dinner, the neighbor suggests a way of passing the time - and soon his real intentions become clear.

The story of Charles Peace, one of Britain's most notorious criminals. Peace was an expert in cat burglary. The film reconstructs Peace's real-life leap from a train on his way to trial for the murder of Arthur Dyson.

A short film from Slovenia made by Karol Grossmann.

A peasant goes to Paris to sell a couple of rabbits and everything he finds in the city surprises and amazes him, which causes fun to the Parisians. But they steal his rabbits and he also ends up in prison.

The main phases in the lives of a young couple, from when they meet and fall in love, until they have seven children, intimately linked to photographic art.

Mr. Dauber, a painter very favorably known, receives a visit Mr. Pierrot, a white clown enjoying a popularity as wide-spread as that of the painter himself, who comes to request a sitting for his portrait, The painter sets out promptly to execute his order, and in a few minutes he sketches upon a blackboard the portrait of his new patron. Hardly has he finished when the painting, nothing but that of a jumping-jack, begins to move its arms and legs and afterwards springs out of the frame. There follows between the three an irresistibly comic scene during which a number of amusing incidents take place, producing bursts of laughter from the audience.

A trick film using the reverse effect.

Short film about the surrender at Port Arthur, the signing of the surrender, and the match out of the Russian prisoners and wounded.

A well-dressed woman leaves her home and takes a carriage to a department store. While she is in the store, she steals several items, and is caught by store employees. Meanwhile, a poor woman with two small children steals a loaf of bread out of desperation, and she is quickly caught and arrested. Both women are taken to the police station and then into court, to see what penalty each of them must face.

A young man leers through a peephole in the wall separating two dressing rooms, but he is caught, and is humiliated by his victims, two pretty ladies.

A little flower film by Gaston Velle.

A Danish commercial for Aktieselskabet Linotol-Kompagniet and linotol floor covering.

A magician transforms a tiny dinner table into a full meal for a homeless man.

A poor woodcutter abandons his 7 children in the woods.

Erotic dance performed by an unknown female dancer.

This short film from the Corrick Collection by the Corrick Family Entertainers features shots taken from the front of a train travelling through the snowy Swiss Alps.

This short film, done by The American Mutoscope & Biograph Company, shows the historical legend of the three men - two drums and a fife player - forever remembered as "The Spirit of '76."

A fictionalized account of the Hatfields and the McCoys.

What’s the hidden message inside this intriguing film, shot at a Salvation Army establishment in western India?

A fine magician of the Royal Court materialises an elegant attire from a transparent glass container, and then, a refined dandy appears, as an ornate palanquin is summoned. Now, what does the illusionist have in mind?

A constable and a subway attendant are working late at night in an underground station when a well-dressed man with a cigar in his teeth enters with his arms around two women dressed in long skirts and jackets, gloves, and fancy hats. The trio laugh and stumble on the platform as if having a hilarious time, getting the attention of the policeman who attempts to stop their bawdy behavior.

The Manaki brothers document the elegant wedding of a presumably popular couple.

The assassination of the Grand Duke Serge.

A silly-looking composer attempts to compose. He then falls asleep, and dreams of all manner of bizarre nonsense.

Two romantic suitors avoid their wet-blanket chaperone by way of the titular hedge.

This short subject features a baby splashing in a tin bath, obviously enjoying making a mess. As the baby plays, a woman's torso is seen moving in the background.

Hazel, the miller's daughter, is courted by a country boy and a sophisticated city boy. Her father favors the country boy, but she elopes with the city boy. Before they can marry, his wife shows up and stops the ceremony. Hazel tries to return to her father, but he has disowned her. She jumps into the river, but is rescued by the country boy, who later marries her.

Lost film in which we see the football basque team Athletic Club of Bilbao.

Henry the Eighth, King of England, had six wives, and it is well known that he had several of them put to death, some by the axe, some by poison, and another by the rope. The following view is the reproduction of the death of Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London, the celebrated prison of state in the sixteenth century.

Short film by Pathé Frères released in 1905 with a racist plot.

This has more of a clear narrative than most of the films in the set although it’s still quite odd and random compared to today’s films. There are some effectively surreal and creepy sequences in this imaginative short, such as the devil’s face appearing in an egg and spewing coins as well as the finale where our protagonist is sent to an egg-filled hell.

Several men take watermelons from a melon patch, and are pursued.

A fisherman has taken a comfortable position on the bank of a river; he has thrown his line into the water to see what good fortune awaits him. But the heat is so intense that he becomes drowsy, and finally he is lulled to sleep by the murmur of the gently flowing current of the stream. His rest is disturbed by strange dreams, and as a result of a sudden movement he pitches into the water. A policeman who happens to be passing at this moment rushes to his aid, but the angler has already gained the shore before assistance reaches him, and the latter immediately starts to return to his house to change his clothes. During that time, the policeman, who has jumped into the river, is overtaken by two officers, who arrest him, thinking that he has been bathing in a place where it is forbidden. They lead the poor man away to the station-house without concerning themselves about the fact that he is a representative of the public force.

A drunk furniture-repairer tries to wrangle sixteen chairs.

A city family goes to the shore for a vacation, but everything goes wrong.

A tramp is run over by a car and dismembered. Helpful passers-by reassemble him.

A poor boy goes to pray inside a church at Christmas time, but after he collapses a figure from a stained glass window comes to life and enlists the boy to deliver presents down a chimney. This short film is part of the Corrick Collection by the Corrick Family Entertainers.

In order to photograph this film, the cameraman placed his equipment on a broad sidewalk in the business district of a large city, probably New York. As the action begins, a woman dressed in the fashion of the time is seen approaching the camera position. She stops in front of the window of a mercantile store. While she is scrutinizing the merchandise, a purse snatcher comes from the rear, grabs her handbag, turns, and makes off with it in the opposite direction. The woman causes quite a commotion, waves her arms and yells attracting a large crowd, including some policemen. The cameraman changed his position and the last scene shows the woman, escorted by two policemen and followed by a group of people, walking down the sidewalk into a building that might be a police station.

A 1905 film by the Charles Urban Trading Company.

A tramp who unwittingly starts a fire is chased by a mob of peasants.

Early Balkan footage.