I am pleased to report that the first film to link together multiple shots into a narrative is an action-packed stunt spectacular set on the South coast of England.
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Come for the world’s first camera tilt, stay for the delightful characters at the end.
A poor wretch of a man wakes from a dream about partying with a pretty younger woman to find, in a hi-larious twist, that his arms are around his older, dowdier wife who wants nothing to do with his affections.
How his wife hates him so! Ha ha ha!
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This film is believed to be the first surviving astronomical film in the world. Magician and astronomy enthusiast Nevil Maskelyne had to design and build a special adaptor for his camera in order to capture this solar eclipse, an event that has fascinated us for all of human existence.
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(Pierrette’s Escapades)
Harlequin! We love that mischievous rogue, appearing in Columbine’s bedroom to frolic (and then “frolic”).
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This short is a scene taken from Rostand’s play and featuring the celebrated lead actor, Benoit Constant Coquelin, from the Paris production.
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(The Four Troublesome Heads; Four Heads are Better Than One)
Before there was Looney Tunes, there was George Méliès.
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(The Astronomer’s Dream; The Man in the Moon)
This movie is absurd in the best possible way.
It features satan, goddesses, child clowns, an evil moon, slapstick, puppetry, and practical effects.
I love it.
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The first couple of films I watched as part of my History of Cinema journey were, frankly, not that exciting. They are interesting and worthwhile for their technological achievements and historical importance. Unfortunately, as movies, they don’t have a whole lot to offer.
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Shot using the Cinematograph of his own invention, this one scene short film features intrepid sailors watched over by the relatives of Lumière as they row boldly out to the seas.
The excitement ramps up in the second act as the sailors pass beyond the jetty only to find themselves immediately hit by the angry sea. We wonder how they will handle this sudden eruption of nature’s fury.
Then, in the final seconds of the film, we see the boat desperately trying to turn back to shore while being pummelled by some of the biggest waves ever captured on film that year.
Then it suddenly ends, the fate of the sailors left to the imagination.
With this abrupt ending, the film asks us to contemplate what it means to take on more than we can handle.
Fun Fact!
The Lumière brothers were the first to have a paid public screening of a projected film, basically inventing The Cinema, but then they later decided that movies weren’t going anywhere and so they quit making them.
See more from my study of The History of Cinema.