All Films

Cherbourg: Entrée des souverains russes et du président de la République sous le hall

1896 • 1 min • France

Sovereign Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and President Félix Faure, walking by, followed by their respective escorts.

A Soldier's Unlucky Salutation

1896 • 1 min • France

A soldier is talking to a woman while sitting on a bench, a man sits on it, and the soldier stands up, causing the bench to tip over and the man falls. Available in flipbook format only (tentatively identified) and otherwise a lost film.

Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)

1896 • 1 min • France

One of a few versions of the "arrival of the train" narrative. While the film is lost, there is a new digital version based on re-creation from a flipbook produced by Léon Beaulieu around the same time. Shot in Joinville-le-Pont

Les tribulations d'un concierge

1896 • 1 min

Georges Méliès lost film.

Alger: Rue Bab-Azoun

1896 • 1 min • Algeria, France

Another street scene from the Lumiere company

Conjuring

1896 • 1 min • France

The film reproduces a magic act Méliès performed at his Paris theater-of-illusions, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin. Conjuring is notable as Méliès's second film, and as his first to move beyond the actuality film genre pioneered by the Lumière brothers and experiment with using the camera to capture a theatrical magic act. (Later in 1896, with his discovery of the substitution splice technique, Méliès was able to begin augmenting his theatrical illusions with new special effects unique to film.) Conjuring can thus be seen as Méliès's first foray into the world of fiction film. The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and numbered 2 in its catalogues.

Scene from the Coronation of the Czar of Russia

1896 • 2 min • France

100 seconds-long six-scene footage consisting of selected coronation ceremonies of the Russian Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II. Shows distinguished guests entering a carriage, parade of troops and carriages, Nicholas II and his wife empress Alexandra Feodorovna descending the Kremlin Red Staircase, procession of the newly crowned Emperor and his wife under the baldacchino, guests from the Asian parts of the Russian Empire.

The Melbourne Cup

1896 • 3 min • Australia

This film documents the 1896 Melbourne Cup horse race including footage of the crowd watching the race.

Carmaux: Drawing Out the Coke

1896 • 1 min • France

Carmaux is in south-central France, near the Tarn River. As a brick of coke, about four feet high and three feet wide, is gradually pushed out of a smelter into a yard, one worker sprays it with water from a hose while two workers with long metal rakes wait to spread it out. Other workers buzz in and out of the foreground of the stationary camera. Atop the first level of the brick smelter, workers push full carts of coal along a track.

Alger : déchargement au port

1896 • 1 min

Porters bring goods into a warehouse.

Départ en voiture

1896 • 1 min • France

Three women get in a horse-drawn carriage, as servants load luggage on the roof, before it pulls away.

New York, Broadway and Wall Street

1896 • 1 min • France, United States of America

Movement of pedestrians, cabs, carts and trams at the crossroads of two avenues.

Playing Cards

1896 • 1 min • France

Three friends are playing cards in a beer garden. One of them orders drinks. The waitress comes back with a bottle of wine and three glasses on a tray. The man serves his friends. They clink glasses and drink. Then the man asks for a newspaper. He reads a funny story in it and the three friends burst out laughing while the waitress merely smiles.

Retour d’une promenade en mer

1896 • 1 min • France

A boat returns to port, where passengers are helped ashore.

Repas en famille

1896 • 1 min • France

A French family consisting of father, mother and two children, sitting around a table and eating a meal.

Chirgwin in His Humorous Business

1896 • 1 min • United Kingdom

'The White Eyed Kaffir' performs with top hat.

Bedtime for the Bride

1896 • 2 min • France

A newlywed couple in front of their wedding-bed after their wedding. The woman undresses in front of her husband. A French erotic short film considered to be one of the first erotic films made.

Cock Fight

1896 • 1 min • United States of America

Two cocks fight whilst being watched by two men.

Rentrée à l'étable

1896 • 1 min • France

Geneva (Exhibition 1896): back to the barn.

Alger : place du gouvernement

1896 • 1 min • France

A street scene with a government building in the background.

Post No Bills

1896 • 1 min • France

A soldier stands guard at a sentry box and leaves it unprotected for a moment, a moment that two men take advantage of to put up posters where it is prohibited.

Demolition of a Wall

1896 • 1 min • France

Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.

Londres, Piccadilly Circus

1896 • 1 min • France

A view of Piccadilly Circus in London.

Danse au bivouac

1896 • 1 min • France

Soldiers dancing.