All Films

Sylvia

1900 • 2 min • France

Carlotta Zambelli dances for the camera.

Scenes on Mr. Smit's Ostrich Farm

1900 • 1 min

Scenes on an ostrich farm, filmed in Natal during the Boer War.

The Battleship 'Odin'

1900 • 1 min • Germany

A German warship.

Nice: Panorama sur la ligne de Beaulieu à Monaco, III

1900 • 1 min • France

Shots of the panorama, filmed from the winding railroad tracks that stretch along the coast, from Beaulieu to Monaco, including tunnel passages.

The Burning Stable

1900 • 2 min • United Kingdom

A dramatic scene - and exactly what moving pictures were invented for. With a fixed camera and without a traditional narrative, this film nevertheless tells a compelling story as a cast of men and boys fight an impending crisis. It's not known whether this fire was real or staged, but the tension is palpable as horse after horse emerges from the smoking barn. There's even comedy in the foreground as one man loiters at the pump a little too long, sloshing bucketloads of water on to the ground. (BFI.org.uk)

Warships at Sunset

1900 • 1 min • United Kingdom

A single shot of a fleet of warships at sea, with a sunset sky superimposed from another sequence to complete the effect.

The Fart Maniac

1900 • 1 min • United States of America

Silent record of a performance by Joseph Pujol. He was famous for his remarkable control of the abdominal muscles, which enabled him to seemingly fart at will.

Photo-Cinéma-Théâtre: Christine Kerf dans Terpsichore

1900 • 4 min • France

Christine Kerf as the Greek muse Terpsichore, in 1900.

How Bridget Made the Fire

1900 • 1 min • United States of America

An American Mutscope & Biograph production.

Around the Flip-Flap Railroad

1900 • 1 min • United States of America

A splendid picture of the remarkable centrifuge railroad at Coney Island in which the car makes a complete circle in its course around the track, commonly known as "Loop the Loop."

Kitty Mahone

1900 • 2 min • United Kingdom

Walter Gibbons was one of Britain's most forward-thinking film entrepreneurs, and deeply entranced by the music hall. In 1900 he launched his 'phono bio tableaux', which synchronised songs recorded by famous music stars on disc with a film of the performance. Sadly, all but one of the films are lost, making this last survivor a unique record of a major Victorian music hall star in sound and vision, as well as the oldest British 'sound film', nearly thirty years before the 'talkies' arrived. Lil Hawthorne, who performs this song, was a well-known American singer, often adopting a male persona, although she was not strictly a male impersonator.

Tram Journey through Southampton

1900 • 1 min • United Kingdom

A moving tour through lively turn-of-the-century Southampton.

Ladysmith – Naval Brigade Dragging 4.7 Guns into Ladysmith

1900 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Naval ratings pulling along naval guns during the Boer War.

Four Warships in Rough Seas

1900 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Waves Break on Bow of a Ship

1900 • 1 min

You’ll need your sea legs to watch this film, which was apparently filmed from a perilous position on the ship’s mast - in rough seas. This is a nautical example of a 'phantom ride' - in which a camera is mounted on a moving vehicle - a popular genre among early filmgoers for the still-novel sensation of travel it offered. Thanks to the swelling waves, the effect when projected on a screen is rather queasier than the comparatively gentle train or tram journeys that were more typical phantom ride subjects. Waves on Bow of a Ship was made by Warwick Trading Company, a leading British film production and distribution company between 1898-1915.

Nipper runs amok!

1900 • 1 min • Germany, United Kingdom

Two chaps, a Gramophone, and a dog called Nipper. What could possibly go wrong?

A Trip Through Paris, France in The 1890s

1900 • 5 min • France

Footage from the dawn of film taken in Belle Époque-era Paris, France from 1896-1900.

A Good Time with the Organ Grinder

1900 • 1 min • United States of America

There's an organ grinder on the stage, standing in front of a backdrop that's supposed to look like the street. Some young women come up and do a high-speed acrobatic dance around him.

Skating on Lake, Central Park

1900 • 1 min

Photographed February 5, 1900.

The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War

1900 • 2 min • New Zealand

New Zealand's oldest surviving film shows a troop of horsemen from the Boer War Second Contingent in camp at one of the open days held before their departure at Newtown Park, Wellington, likely 13 January 1900. (https://ngataonga.org.nz/)

Children of the Royal Family of England

1900 • 1 min

Prince Edward of York, executing the manual of arms, attended by Prince Albert, and Princess Victoria, of York.

Le Deshabille de la mariee

1900 • 3 min

A "lady" undresses for bed.

Chez le Photographe

1900 • 4 min • France

Hi-jinx with a clown photographer

Two Laughing Men

1900 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Two men lose it laughing at something in a magazine