All Films

The Untamable Whiskers

1904 • 3 min • France

The background of this picture represents a scene along the beautiful river Seine in Paris. A gentleman enters, and taking a blackboard from the side of the picture, he draws on it a sketch of a novelist. Then, standing in the centre, he causes the living features of his sketch to appear in the place of his own, which is utterly devoid of whiskers. The change is made so mysteriously that the eye cannot notice it until one sees quite another person in the place of the first. Again another sketch is shown on the board, this one being that of a miser; then an English cockney; a comic character; a French policeman, and last of all, the grinning visage of Mephistopheles. It is almost impossible to give this film a more definite description; suffice it to say that it is something entirely new in motion pictures and is sure to please. (Méliès Catalog)

The Christmas Angel

1904 • 10 min • France

A poor family in a rundown house where snow falls through the broken roof, there's no coal to heat the pathetic little stove, mother is sick, father sends daughter out to beg. Rejected by other beggars, the girl collapses in the snow…

Metamorphosis of a Butterfly

1904 • 1 min • France

The stages that a caterpillar goes through, from larvae to chrysalis, to become a butterfly.

The Clockmaker's Dream

1904 • 2 min • France

A weary clock-maker dozes off in a chair. While he is asleep, three women suddenly appear in the midst of his shop. They proceed to show the sleeping clock-maker some new kinds of clocks that they know how to make.

Troubles of a Manager of a Burlesque Show

1904 • 2 min • United States of America

Facing a stationary camera, sitting at a desk, a man works busily. Posters of burlesque queens are on the wall behind him. A single woman, followed later by later two others, comes into the office seeking a job. The manager hands each a box with a costume in it and points to dressing rooms. Each of the women has a different reaction when she discovers the nature of her costume, and the busy manager has a distinct response to each of the women as well.

Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter

1904 • 1 min • France

Only 8 surviving seconds of a man getting great pleasure from smoking a cigar.

Incendie du Théâtre Iroquois à Chicago

1904 • 3 min • France

Recreation of a real-life fire that took 602 lives.

The Mermaid

1904 • 4 min • France

A magician conjures up a mermaid while fishing.

The Cook in Trouble

1904 • 4 min • France

A cook has his hands full with three mischievous devils, who pop in and out of his kitchen.

Photographing a Female Crook

1904 • 1 min • United States of America

A criminal woman is brought in by the police to be photographed (a mug-shot, presumably), capturing her making faces or grimacing. This simple, short film has been often cited as an early instance of a "tracking-in" or dolly-in in cinema, where the camera moves closer to the subject instead of remaining fixed. It was likely directed by Wallace McCutcheon Sr.

Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer

1904 • 3 min • France

A Chinese conjurer stands next to a table, it becomes two tables. A fan becomes a parasol, lanterns appear and disappear. The conjurer spins the open parasol in front of himself, and a dog leaps out from behind it. The dog becomes a woman, then a masked man appears. The conjurer sits them each on a box a few feet apart: suddenly the woman and man have changed places. The disappearing and the transfers continue in front of a simple backdrop.

Reception of His Majesty Alfonso XIII in Barcelona

1904 • 2 min • France, Spain

1904 journalistic actuality.

Barcelona Park at Twilight

1904 • 2 min • France

Early short showing the titular park in around 2 minutes.

Westinghouse Air Brake Co. (Casting Scene)

1904 • 3 min • United States of America

What appear to be molds pass some men by on conveyor belts. The men take them off the belt and dump the contents onto the ground. Other men pick up with tongs the parts that have been dumped onto the ground and put them on a pile in the foreground.

The Gallants of the Park

1904 • 6 min • Spain

The heir of a rich family puts up a notice, where he says he is looking for a wife. As a result, he will soon find himself fleeing from a dozen women.

Automobiling Among the Clouds

1904 • 9 min • United States of America

A procession of American and European automobiles--including such makes as Daimlers, Mercedes, Stanley Steamers and Pierces-- drive up and down the steep roads on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. Some of them struggle with the steep grade. A hiker persists in sequential shots. It's unknown whether the film was an attempt to document a race or rally, or merely present picturesque actuality. It's also been surmised that audiences of the day might have bet on the film's numbered cars.

Burglary at Night

1904 • 3 min • France

A man hides his valuables under his mattress before going to sleep, blissfully unaware of the two burglars on his roof.

A Race for a Kiss

1904 • 3 min • United Kingdom

A woman agrees to kiss the winner of a race between a horse and a motorcar.

Casting a Guide Box

1904 • 6 min • United States of America

A large bucket full of molten material is poured into a large container, possibly a mold, by a group of men using machinery. Some other men stoke the fire under the container. When finished pouring, the men lift the bucket up from the container and take it away on a crane. Two men put prods down repeatedly into the container, while others lay covers on top of it.

Westinghouse Air Brake Co. (Moulding Scene)

1904 • 4 min • United States of America

Men working in teams carry buckets of molten material and pour the material into what appear to be molds lined up on the ground.

The Bewitched Traveller

1904 • 3 min • United Kingdom

A man preparing for a trip encounters a series of mysterious problems.

Buy Your Own Cherries

1904 • 4 min • United Kingdom

A barmaid plies a swell with smiles and with cherries from a box that's just been delivered. When she refuses a cherry to a roughly-dressed tradesman who runs a tab at the bar, he pays off his debt in a huff, using all his week's pay. He then storms penniless and without provisions into his ill-furnished house where his wife and two children, ill-clad and ill-fed, cower. Is there any hope for him and for his family? If he does realize how low he's sunk, what help is there to lift him up? Will the family ever know the taste of cherries?

The Widow and the Only Man

1904 • 9 min • United States of America

Only women are at a resort, until one man arrives. He woos a pretty young widow, and wins her.

The Impossible Voyage

1904 • 20 min • France

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.