All Films

Don Juan Tenorio

1908 • 14 min • Spain

The silent Spanish version of the story of Don Juan Tenorio.

Gustaf III and Bellman

1908 • 8 min • Sweden

The most advanced film made in Sweden up to that point.

Evangeline

1908 • 11 min • United States of America

About an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians, the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from the present day Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island - parts of an area also known as Acadia.

Beauty and the Beast

1908 • 5 min • France

An old merchant gets lost in the forest and arrives at a magnificent garden where he sits and picks some magnificent roses. Suddenly, the hideous Beast emerges from the ground in a burst of flames and condemns him to death unless one of his three daughters agrees to marry him.

Parade on the Occasion of the Hürriyet

1908 • 4 min • Macedonia

Early Balkan footage.

The Pumpkin Race

1908 • 7 min • France

Early slapstick short from Louis Feuillade involving runaways, except that, instead of it being a runaway horse (see Griffith's THE CURTAIN POLE for an example), it is a cartful of what appear to be hundred-pound pumpkins that get away, rushing hither and yon, down sewers, up chimneys, pursued by the drayer, a couple of other people and a very unwilling donkey.

The Last Cartridge, An Incident of the Sepoy Rebellion in India

1908 • 10 min • United States of America

Caught off-guard by Indian mutineers, a British soldier saves his last bullet for his daughter, lest she be taken.

The Vain Parlor Maid

1908 • 4 min • Austria

A housemaid is cleaning a studio. When she sees a sculpture of a nude woman in life-size, lying on a couch, she starts to compare this idealized body with her own. She takes off her clothes one by one, thus revealing her own naked body, and she compares the various parts of her body with those of the statue. The master of the house enters the studio. When he sees his housemaid naked, he tells her to go into the next room, and then goes into that room himself.

Olympic Games 4000 Children of South London Schools Hold Sports Meeting at the Crystal Palace

1908 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Ready, steady, relay! This newsreel captures the pepped-up mood of the camera-conscious youngsters assembled for the South London Schools Sports event at Crystal Palace in 1908. Judicious editing succinctly conveys the excitement of the relay race as the competitors traverse the "finest and safest running track" - as a contemporary newspaper article described the Edwardian sports facility.

Battle at Honnôji Temple

1908 • 12 min • Japan

In 1908, Director/Producer Shozo Makino (father of Japanese cinema) directed and produced the first dramatic film in Kyoto. “Honnô-ji Gassen” was shot at Shinnyo-Do Temple. Considered a lost film.

Dreams of Toyland

1908 • 7 min • United Kingdom

A young boy’s toys come to life through animation.

L'Assommoir

1908 • 36 min • France

Everyman Coupeau's attempts to stop drinking are routinely thwarted by the wicked and vengeful Virginie. Based on Zola's novel, Capellani's film is about the free fall of a group of working-class French folk into degradation and tragedy due to carelessness, jealousy, and alcohol abuse. At the time of its release, L'Assommoir was hugely successful.

No Good for Anything

1908 • 8 min • United Kingdom

A bungling bumpkin fails at a number of jobs in this slapstick comedy - before he finds his true calling.

Les infortunes des patineurs

1908 • 7 min • France

A group of people take roller skating too far.

The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess

1908 • 14 min • France

A good shepherdess is persecuted by an evil, tantrum-throwing princess. A good fairy decides to intervene, and dishes out quite a bit of retribution.

The Thieving Hand

1908 • 6 min • United States of America

A one-armed street peddler notices that a well-to-do man has dropped his ring. He returns it to him. The wealthy man is very grateful and, to show his appreciation, takes the peddler to a 'Limb Store', where he buys him a new arm. The recipient soon discovers that this new arm has a will of its own - causing him considerable embarrassment.

Humanity Through the Ages

1908 • 16 min • France

An episodic narrative displaying examples of humankind's brutality, from the story of Cain and Abel through the Hague Convention of 1907.

The Power of Hypnosis

1908 • 7 min • Austria

French Cops Learning English

1908 • 7 min • France

The seven-minute film takes place inside a classroom where some cops are learning English.

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler

1908 • 9 min • France

The Merchant, the Farrier, and the Roman accompany a mysterious woman into a magical cave full of terrors and wonders.

Buncoed Stage Johnnie

1908 • 2 min • France

This Georges Melies film is one of several to appear in only a fragment form. The film opens up with a title card explaining what happens in the missing parts of the movie. Basically a man wants to give some flowers to a stage star but a prankster instead gives them to an obese cleaning woman.

The Planter's Wife

1908 • 14 min • United States of America

John Holland, a planter in a small way, is devotedly attached to his wife and infant child. The wife wearies of the monotonous grind of farm life and is easy prey of a contemptible villain, in the person of Tom Roland, the ubiquitous "other man".

Not Guilty

1908 • 10 min • France

Three burglars invade a house, kill two people, and blind a third person, a woman. The police arrest the wrong man.

Sideshow Wrestlers

1908 • 8 min • France

A man gets cajoled into working as a sideshow wrestler.