The Birth of Cinema, 1874-1895
In the process of compiling the playlist of films, The Birth of Cinema, 1874-1895, I have given much thought to what should be or should not be included.
Category: Silent Films
How the Cinema was Reborn in Dumbshow in 1907: Prodigal Sons and Shapely Calves
Historian David Bond explores the connection between French pantomime in the first decade of the 20th Century and one of Europe’s first feature-length films.
Tulipomania, Faunophobia and Copyright: a Pathé Mystery
A Pathé film of uncertain date has long been identified as Les Tulipes (1907).
Early Film Pioneers: Alfred Clark and the Birth of the Historical Reconstruction Film
Alfred Clark began working for the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1895 and is the first film-maker known to have used the stop-motion technique and very probably the first to have filmed an historical reconstruction.
The Unbeliever (1918)
A wealthy young atheist finds God, love, and loses his sense of class distinction in one the Edison company’s final productions.
Visages d’enfants (1925) Faces of Children
Film review by Dan Willard. Visages d’enfants (Faces of Children) feels more modern than other films from the same era thanks to its realism and naturalistic acting.
La roue (1923)
Film Review by Dan Willard. Despite its groundbreaking and influential technical achievements, La roue is an overlong and rather maudlin melodrama.
Unseen Forces (1920)
Film review by Dan Willard. Unseen Forces is the story of a woman with psychic powers and her troubled romance with the son of a wealthy New York businessman.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Saturnino Farandola (1913)
Film review by Dan Willard. The Extraordinary Adventures of Saturnino Farandola is an engaging hodgepodge of fantasy, comedy, adventure, and science fiction.
Gipsy Anne (1920)
Film review by Dan Willard. Considered the first truly Norwegian film, Gipsy Anne is the story of an orphan girl who grows up on a farm and is courted by her stepbrother and the farmhand who discovered her when she was an infant.
