All Films

The Cattle Rustlers

1908 • 13 min

A posse forms to track down a band of cattle rustlers after a rancher offers $500 reward for their capture.

Tale the Autumn Leaves Told

1908 • 2 min • United States of America

A handful of short tales of love, framed by leaf masks.

A Very Fine Lady

1908 • 4 min • France

Renée Carl stars in this lively slapstick silent short as a beautiful lady who causes distractions and accidents among the male population as she walks though the streets of Paris.

Turks' Hearing Speech on Hürriyet

1908 • 2 min • Macedonia

Early Balkan footage.

Sicily Illustrated

1908 • 6 min • Italy

Images of Sicily.

Antos in Warsaw For the First Time

1908 • 7 min • Poland

Lost Polish comedy short from 1908. Not to be confused with the 1916 remake of which a small portion survives.

Magic Bricks

1908 • 3 min

A charming example of the Pathe stencil system of colour films, also using superimposition.

A Suburbanite's Ingenious Alarm

1908 • 7 min • United States of America

An office worker takes desperate measures in an attempt to get up on time in the morning.

Beginning of the Serpentine Dance

1908 • 4 min • France

In a living room, four contemporary couples from the time the film was shot dance a waltz under the direction of a violinist (Linder). They begin a minuet and their costumes change in a sudden. A man enters and seems interested in what he sees, casts a spell and everything disappears. Transforming himself into the devil, the visitor takes the violinist with him to hell, where he creates a large piece of silk out of a cauldron. The fabric unrolls, revealing a young woman in a silk dress that starts dancing the serpentine. While she dances, other women join in a synchronized ballet, before all of them vanish into bursts of flames.

Celebration on the Occasion of Young Turks' Revolution in Bitola

1908 • 1 min • Macedonia

Early Balkan footage.

Lejonjakten

1908 • 3 min • Sweden

"Lejonjakten" is one of five films (three of which are now lost) that were made by students at the University of Lund, Sweden, as a part of their 1908 carnival. The film is a cruel parody on Danish producer Ole Olsen's "Løvejagten" (1907) which was at the time banned in Denmark (due to the fact that a lion and other animals were actually killed in the film) but shown in Sweden. In the student version two actors dressed up as a lion and a kangaroo get shot by hunters, but the hunters themselves soon get arrested by the police, an allusion to a recent conflict between the students and the local police.

Diabolical Pickpocket

1908 • 7 min • France

A pickpocket manages to escape the police through a series of fantastic tricks. The director is this film is unknown.

Troubles of a Grass Widower

1908 • 10 min • France

A housewife tires of her husband's annoying behavior and returns to her mother. At first, the husband is quite pleased to have the house all to himself. But he quickly discovers that even the most basic domestic chores can be fraught with difficulty.

Madame is Athletic

1908 • 10 min • France

Mrs. Neverrest is a very energetic woman and is passionately fond of sports of every description, and being blessed with a large fortune indulges freely in all her different sporting proclivities.... She goes to the top of a high mountain with great ease and there awaits her panting servant, who not being a thorough sportsman like his mistress suffers severely from all this exertion.... [After various activities,] the indefatigable woman returns to her dwelling, dresses for dinner and has still enough energy left to receive her various admirers and enjoy their society. —Moving Picture World

The Runaway Horse

1908 • 7 min • France

A laundry man parks his horse-drawn cart to make a delivery. While he is inside, his horse sees a bag of oats and starts to eat them. By the time the man comes back outside, the horse has eaten a whole bag of oats, and has so much energy that he begins to race out of control.

The Prophetess of Thebes

1908 • 2 min • France

Partially lost film. One of the kings of ancient Thebes enters the abode of an astrologer and demands that he be told his future. The former utterly refuses to forecast the coming events of his sovereign, even under the pain of death; but he brings forth a priestess who possesses the powers of divination. This priestess is introduced in a wonderful way: a throne is brought forward, and then a box from which the pieces of a statue are removed and piled up in regular order; the statue suddenly becomes animated. The king implores the latter to foretell his life. She commands him to look through a telescope toward the side of the room. A vision appears. (Moving Picture World)

Olympic Games

1908 • 8 min • France

During the recent Olympic games, held in the city of Loudon. Pathe was granted sole rights to take pictures for the cinematograph of the national games, and the success with which they met in obtaining a clear view of the principal events can easily be judged by those who are fortunate enough to see this film. The first picture shows the grand stand, crowded to its capacity with thousands of enthusiastic fans. In the royal box is the King and Queen, who appear to take a lively interest in the different events. It is an inspiring scene to see the parade of athletes at the opening of the games as each country represented marches by the reviewing stand flying their national colors and saluting their majesties.

The Celebration with Slogans in Greek

1908 • 1 min • Macedonia

Early Balkan footage.

In the Barber Shop

1908 • 3 min • France

One fine day at a barbershop that has stupid staff and very rude customers.

The Grateful Mice

1908 • 7 min • Italy

A girl walking in the woods is captured by an evil dwarf. He takes her home and forces her to keep house for him. Thanks to a beautiful fairy and the mice she takes care of, she escapes.

His First Cigar

1908 • 5 min • France

The film is quite sophisticated for it's time with a relatively large number of scene changes as we follow Max's misadventures. It also features a close-up shot to show his reactions to the effects of the cigar he is smoking.

English Royal Couple Visits Stockholm

1908 • 8 min • Sweden

Actuality film documenting the state visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to Stockholm on 26–27 April 1908. The footage shows the English royal couple’s arrival and reception in Stockholm, crowds lining the streets, and ceremonial events. Originally released as part of the compilation newsreel Stockholm i festskrud.

Preparation for the Rendezvous

1908 • 5 min • Austria

A Saturn film directed by Johann Schwarzer.

The Legend of Prometheus

1908 • 4 min • France

"A mythological scene with the most beautiful effect" (Nouveautés Cinématographiques, 1908)