All Films

Launch of the Worthing Lifeboat Coming Ashore

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

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

Washing the Sweep

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Two washerwomen have an altercation with a chimney sweep

Pleasure in Berlin

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Two shots. In one, groups of people climb up and then slide down a small hill, including pet dogs. In the other shot, people at a public pool take turns diving into the water.

Scheveningen, Dutch Fishing Boats

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Sailors disembarking on the beach in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Shot on 68 mm Mutoscope-Biograph.

The Tarantella, an Italian Dance

1898 • 1 min

Young people dance the Tarantella

Karina, Specialty Dancer

1898 • 1 min • United States of America

Karina dancing.

The Seaforth Highlanders' Return to Cairo after the Fall of Omdurman and Khartoum

1898 • 1 min

In this brief film, Cairo becomes the stage for Lord Kitchener's celebrations after the fall of Khartoum. Possibly filmed by John 'Mad Jack' Benett-Stanford on behalf of the Warwick Trading Company, it is a forerunner of the military films that would shortly flood the screens of Great Britain with the outbreak of the Boer War. Benett-Stanford, an Etonian turned career serviceman, was on active service in the Sudan and doubled as a war correspondent. According to legend, he was shot while attempting to get a picture of the enemy. It seems, though, that even beside the showmen and chancers of the early film industry, 'Mad Jack' had a gift for exaggeration.

Child With a Balloon

1898 • 1 min • France

Review at Longchamp: Parade of the Genie

1898 • 1 min • France

A review of engineers at the Longchamp parade, filmed by the Lumière brothers.

Neapolitan Dance at the Ancient Forum of Pompeii

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

A folk dance staged in the ruins of Pompeii. With the Arch of Tiberius in the near distance and Arch of Caligula in far distance. A troop of soldiers, or possibly more performers, march past. W K L Dickson who is directing the action can apparently be seen on far right of picture.

Revue à Longchamp: Arrivée de M. le président Félix Faure

1898 • 1 min • France

President Félix Faure, escorted by horsemen, marching past the troops at Longchamp.

9th Infantry Boys' Morning Wash

1898 • 1 min • United States of America

"Imagine forty or fifty soldier boys each with a pail of water on the ground before him, sousing and spattering and scrubbing away for dear life..."

Maidenhead Junction

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Film shot by W.K.L. Dickson at Maidenhead Junction, 1898.

Pope Leo XIII in His Carriage

1898 • 1 min • United States of America

Filmmaker WKL Dickson, one-time right hand man to Thomas Edison, the 'Wizard of Menlo Park', here captures an even greater eminence, Pope Leo XIII. This was one of a series of films that exploited Dickson's unique, hard-won access to the Pontiff. Here the Pope arrives in a carriage and bestows a blessing. Whether this blessing was intended for the camera or for the audience beyond it, capturing it on film was a great prize for Dickson.

Col. Theodore Roosevelt and Officers of His Staff

1898 • 1 min

This picture shows Col. Roosevelt, accompanied by Lieut. Greenway and other prominent officers of the Rough Riders, galloping up to his headquarters, where he dismounts and walks into his tent. This view was taken in the camp with the Rough Riders, and is an excellent picture of Col. Roosevelt in the environment he loves so well.

Panoramic View of the Vegetable Market at Venice

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

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

A Blast at the Solvay Quarries

1898 • 1 min • United States of America

Miners at the Solvay Quarries leave their drilling machine to flee from a planned blast in the rock face. Split Rock, NY.

Dutch Fishing Boats

1898 • 1 min • Netherlands, United Kingdom

Children Dancing with Barrel Organ

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Children dancing in the street.

Something Good – Negro Kiss (Alternate Version)

1898 • 1 min • United States of America

Earliest known example of African American intimacy on screen. This version is shot with a wider view and shows more of the vaudeville stylings of Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown and their stage act.

First Film of Blackpool

1898 • 3 min • United Kingdom

This silent film captures scenes of the Blackpool Tower and the tramway, showcasing the town's trams and coastline. It's a valuable piece of early cinema, offering a glimpse into Blackpool's Victorian-era landscape and transportation system.

Children Playing on the Beach at Rhyl

1898 • 1 min • United Kingdom

Children Playing on the Beach at Rhyl

An Interrupted Kiss

1898 • 1 min

A pretty young girl, chaperoned by her elderly father, is seated on a park bench. The old man is bent over his newspaper. The young girl's lover appears on the scene and takes the opposite end of the bench. The two young people attempt to exchange a kiss behind the old man's back....

U.S. Troops Landing at Daiquiri, Cuba

1898 • 1 min • Cuba

"The first U.S. Troops to land, June 22, 1898. Transports in the distance. Soldiers clamber up from boats onto the long railroad pier." - from the Edison Catalog