All Films

The Enchanted Circle

1917 • 45 min • Germany

A documentary filmed aboard a German U-Boat during the First World War, featuring footage of the capture and sinking of cargo ships and a private schooner.

The Battle of the Monkey and the Crab

1917 • 5 min • Japan

An early animated short based on the Japanese folktale. There is some confusion as to which version is which, as there are other animated takes on the tale: 1927s "Yasuji Murata’s Monkey and the Crabs", and 1939s "Monkey and Crabs" or ‘Shin Sarukanigassen’ from Kenzô Masaoka

Visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen to the North-East Coast Shipbuilding and Engineering Works on the Wear

1917 • 13 min

George V and Queen Mary pay a morale boosting visit to the dry docks in the north-east of England in June 1917. Included on the BFI DVD "A Royal Occasion", and also part of the BFI collection "Tales From the Shipyard".

All-Star Production of Patriotic Episodes for the Second Liberty Loan

1917 • 8 min • United States of America

Short film with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford & W.S. Hart promoting war bonds.

The Imp

1917 • 58 min • Germany

A woman marries the wrong man and tries to get out of the marriage.

The War of the Tongs

1917 • 50 min

A wealthy landlord and tong leader falls in love with the beautiful daughter of one of his tenants, a tea-shop merchant.

The Key to Beauty

1917 • 3 min • United States of America

A lot has changed in the years since this promotional short film was made—but a lot hasn’t. Gym clothes have certainly improved, and exercise equipment is sleek and modern. But the message this film sends—“Ladies, the key to beauty is to be fit and be thin”—is still prevalent in 21st-century American society. The various exercises demonstrated here are designed to improve one’s health, posture, muscle tone, and according to the filmmakers, bring happiness.

Heroic France

1917 • 38 min

Filmed by American cinematographer Merl la Voy with the French forces in 1916 on the battlefields of the Somme and Verdun. Footage originally released by the Mutual Film Corporation in the United States in June 1917. These films were since re-edited and used by CBS for a TV documentary series on the First World War.

I raggi “Z”

1917 • 38 min • Italy

I raggi “Z” has been irresistibly charming in every stage of its gradual rediscovery. A 15-minute fragment with lovely scenes of a snowy cityscape of Turin surfaced in the early 1990 at the CNC in Paris, and was then identified as Oca alla Colbert (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1913), because of the seamstresses masquerading as geese. After additional discoveries we could screen 30 minutes of the same French version at the Cinema Ritrovato 2009, in the section dedicated to Gigetta and Rodolfi. The storyline gave away the correct identification of I raggi “Z”, a 1917 Ambrosio production, whose director remains unknown. But would any other Italian director than Rodolfi be able to create a comedy of such elegant, warm-hearted humour and enticing brio, and set the stage so well for Gigetta’s wonderful acting? (Mariann Lewinsky)

O Kaiser

1917 • 1 min • Brazil

Kaiser is a short animated film, directed by the cartoonist Álvaro Marins, the Seth, in 1917. It is considered the first cartoon produced in Brazil.

A Trip to Chinatown

1917 • 20 min • United States of America

I. Noah Heap, after giving a number of the race track patrons some poor tips, is chased by the copper, Welland Strong, who is ever on his trail. Noah's attempts to panhandle the crowd are also thwarted by the ever watchful Strong, who seizes and throws him bodily into the street. Noah wanders into a Chinese laundry and induces the owners to give him a smoke. He plants himself in the old man's bunk and after a couple of drags at the pipe he is off for a wonderful dream.

Her Anniversaries

1917 • 10 min • United States of America

Based on an idea by Helen Duey.

Ekivoka Historietter

1917 • 15 min • Sweden

"Suggestive Short Stories" - The three episodes are, Dancing Couples, The Riding School in Paris and Male Deficiency. The lack of men are increasingly noticeable, why surrogates are becoming high fashion. Introducing the strap-on in 1917. Two men and four women are having a good time.

Mt. Lassen Volcano

1917 • 3 min • United States of America

Footage of the eruption of Mt. Lassen in Northern California. Mt. Lassen erupted from 1914-1917, the last volcano in the Cascades to erupt prior to Mt. St. Helens. This footage was most likely taken in 1917 and is the oldest surviving footage of an American volcano erupting.

Mayblossom

1917 • 55 min • United States of America

In this tale of the South in the mid-1800s, Annabel Lee and Warner Richmond get married, but they keep the wedding a secret so that Warner can inherit the fortune of his misogynist grandfather. But after the grandfather's death, Warner dumps Annabel for an opera singer. Warner destroys the evidence of his first marriage so he can wed the singer, who then takes his money and leaves him.

While the Christmas Bells Rings

1917 • 23 min • Denmark

It is Christmas Eve, and some are finding it easier to look forward to the upcoming celebrations than others. In the home of Widow Ejlersen and her adult son John, money is tight. John has spent his last dime on his mother’s rent, and as his boss refuses to give him an advance, he cannot even buy her a Christmas present. That evening, John drifts aimlessly along the wintry streets while his boss, manufacturer Berg, and his little daughter Else open large presents in their beautiful, warm living room. In sheer desperation, John decides to rob Berg’s house, and the evening takes an unexpected turn. (Stumfilm.dk)

His Highness is Having a Good Time

1917 • 29 min • Germany

Princess Melani wants to find out more about her husband-to-be and impersonates a maid. Her fiancé pretends to be a secretary. An addlebrained servant is ordered to play the count. His first official act is to pass a pay rise for himself. In the meantime his highness / the secretary is flirting with the maid.

Colonel Heeza Liar on the Jump

1917 • 5 min • United States of America

Colonel Heeza Liar is a character a bit like Baron Munchausen. Many wild things occur to him in the cartoons and they are meant to be silly entertainment. Here, he gets into a fight with a kangaroo. On the verge of death, he's saved by a quack doctor--who gives him a transfusion of donkey blood! And, as a result, there is a funny lingering after-effect.

His Bogus Boast

1917 • 23 min • United States of America

The gentlemen of a fashionable social club become annoyed when their guest, Ben, has their wives entranced with stories of his bravery battling outlaws in the wild west. They decide to teach him a lesson by having a club worker disguise himself with a bear skin rug and sneak up on Ben.

A Trooper of Troop K

1917 • 30 min • United States of America

A black U.S. Army cavalry unit in the early 1900s mounts an expedition against the forces of a renegade Mexican general along the Texas-Mexico border, leading to a full-scale battle.

Une soirée mondaine

1917 • 7 min • France

A man and a woman crash a party

His Neglected Wife

1917 • 14 min

His Neglected Wife is one of 24 Black Diamond Comedies that were re-edited, re-titled, and released as “Unique Comedies” in 1919. Its original title remains unknown—the year of its initial release was probably 1917. “Susie,” the recurring heroine of the series (played by Leatrice Joy) is the wife in question; fed up being married to an impecunious writer, she leaves him a note (“As a writer you are a flivver [jalopy]. I'm off to get a six cylinder start”) and flees to the city. Her husband secretly follows her, enduring a great deal of symbolic punishment along the way.

Little Miss Nobody

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Bonnie, an innocent orphan girl, is bullied by Bull Dorgan, the crude foreman of the lumber camp who frequents the saloon that her foster father owns. One day, playwright Arthur Wharton arrives in town, brokenhearted because the woman he loved, Elinor Grenville, married another for money. To protect Bonnie from Dorgan, Arthur marries the girl and then leaves her in the care of his sister Charlotte while he travels to Japan. When he returns, Elinor, now a widow, decides she wants Arthur back and so endeavors to estrange the couple by hiring a man to compromise Bonnie.

The Price of Silence

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

U. S. Senator Frank Deering has spent his life trying to alleviate the misery of child labor. Judge Vernon, his closest friend, aids him in this struggle. Unexpected circumstances force Judge Vernon to borrow money from Henry McCarthy, one of the factory owners most responsible for the harsh and inhumane working conditions. Judge Vernon is unable to pay off the loan, and is reduced to accepting a bride from McCarthy. Later, the Judge is stricken with a heart-condition but, on his dying bed, he confesses the shameful act he committed to Deering. To keep his friend's name unsullied, Deering makes a deal with McCarthy and votes against the child-labor-act he sponsored. His colleagues and the world, unaware of his sacrifice, mock and jeer him.