All Films

A Father's Honor

1905 • 4 min • France

A young woman receives a message, and hurriedly leaves home. But the message was a trick to lure her into a trap, where she is assaulted and killed. When her body is found floating in the river, it is brought to her father. Once he realizes what has been done to his daughter, the father immediately sets out in an effort to extract vengeance.

Dingjun Mountain

1905 • 42 min • China

The first Chinese film ever made, a sung representation of Battle of Mount Dingjun.

Dismissal from Mass in Ljutomer

1905 • 1 min • Slovenia

1905 short film showing people walking down a Ljutomer street after mass.

On a Good Old 5¢ Trolley Ride

1905 • 10 min • United States of America

Amusing characters board an unsteady trolley at each stop, and then abandon the streetcar in order to chase a man who brought on board a basket full of snakes that got loose. A goose gets involved in the chase, and is stolen by a tramp. The chase ends when the crowd arrives at a stream that the tramp has already crossed, with the goose under his arm.

Le Chemineau

1905 • 6 min • France

An adaptation of an episode in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, where Jean Valjean is welcomed into the Bishop of Digne's home, and steals his silverware.

The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

1905 • 3 min • France

An inventor dreams that his newly designed airship takes flight.

The Seven Ages

1905 • 5 min • United States of America

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.

The Enchanted Sedan Chair

1905 • 3 min • France

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?

An Adventurous Automobile Trip

1905 • 10 min • France

A man needs to get to Monte Carlo from Paris, but finds out that a train will take 17 hours to get there. He decides to go with a man with a special car, who claims that he can get there in just two hours. Complications ensue.

The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog

1905 • 5 min • United States of America

A portrait of the Dam family.

A Crazy Composer

1905 • 4 min • France

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

An Improvised Fireworks Display

1905 • 3 min • France

On a city street, a number of men take advantage of an old drunken bum.

Wallachian Nomads

1905 • 2 min • Macedonia

Early Balkan footage.

A Mesmerian Experiment

1905 • 3 min • France

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

The Magic Dice

1905 • 1 min • France

Another magic short of Méliès.

The Lilliputian Minuet

1905 • 1 min • France

The film, of which only fragments are known to survive, features Méliès as a magician making playing-card figures come to life in miniature.

The Hen That Laid the Golden Eggs

1905 • 13 min • France

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.

The Black Imp

1905 • 4 min • France

A traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

1905 • 21 min • France

A poor but honest man wins great wealth, and the hand of a beautiful princess, after facing a series of exciting trials in the tunnels and catacombs of ancient Araby. Guided by the mysterious Khalafar, the troupe (alongside him go some cowardly scholars) encounter skeletons, fire-breathing lizards, and mirages on their journey through the lower world.

Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus

1905 • 4 min • France

An early horror treatment of the hero's encounter with the one-eyed man-eating Cyclops.

The Living Playing Cards

1905 • 3 min • France

Russian Antisemitic Atrocities

1905 • 2 min • France

A Jewish home is attacked.

The Scheming Gambler's Paradise

1905 • 3 min • France

A combination gambling den and bawdy house is set up so that croupiers, patrons, prostitutes, and the owner can quickly change it all into a mercantile establishment when the cops stage a raid.

The Capture of Roma

1905 • 9 min • Italy

The film recreates the final events leading to Italian unification in September 1870.