The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery 1903

7.01

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

1903

The Infernal Cauldron

The Infernal Cauldron 1903

6.30

A green-skinned demon places a woman and two courtiers into a flaming cauldron.

1903

The Kingdom of the Fairies

The Kingdom of the Fairies 1903

6.81

At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.

1903

The Sick Kitten

The Sick Kitten 1903

5.62

A simple scene of two rather flamboyantly-dressed Edwardian children attempting to feed a spoonful of medicine to a sick kitten. The film is important for being one of the earliest films to cut to a close-up, then back again to the same medium shot as before.

1903

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ 1903

6.32

The story of Jesus Christ, from the proclamation of His Nativity to His Ascension into heaven. Impressive staging and beautiful hand-coloring distinguish the film from its Passion-play counterparts; Its scale and dynamic crowds prelude the Italian epics to come.

1903

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland 1903

6.02

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

1903

Life of an American Fireman

Life of an American Fireman 1903

6.00

Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of firemen responding to a house fire. They leave the station with their horse drawn pumper, arrive on the scene, and effect the safe rescue of a woman from the burning house. But wait, she tells them of her child yet asleep in the burning bedroom...

1903

The Gay Shoe Clerk

The Gay Shoe Clerk 1903

5.47

A woman being fitted for shoes exposes her ankle to the shoe clerk, who is intrigued. He kisses her, but her chaperone hits him with her umbrella.

1903

Electrocuting an Elephant

Electrocuting an Elephant 1903

2.70

This is a film taken of the execution of Topsy, an elephant employed to help build Luna Park on Coney Island.

1903

Apparitions

Apparitions 1903

5.40

Alone in his room at an inn, a lustful old man is haunted by spirits.

1903

The Melomaniac

The Melomaniac 1903

6.65

The leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.

1903

The Monster

The Monster 1903

5.90

An Egyptian prince has lost his beloved wife and he has sought a dervish who dwells at the base of the sphinx.

1903

The Infernal Cakewalk

The Infernal Cakewalk 1903

5.60

Pluto, having seen the earth, comes back home amazed at the success of that well-known dance, the "cake-walk." He has brought back with him two noted well-known dancers, who start their favorite dance amidst the flames.

1903

The Georgetown Loop (Colorado)

The Georgetown Loop (Colorado) 1903

5.50

Georgetown, 1901. A silver-mining town at 8,500 feet near the crest of the Rockies. Hooked somehow to the rear of a four-car passenger train is a camera that pans the scenery and, when the train goes around curves, looks ahead to see the engine and passenger cars: the passengers wave hundreds of white handkerchiefs out of the train's left-side windows for the benefit of the camera. The town comes into view; the tracks are above the town, so the camera looks down on dozens of modest rooftops as it pans the area. (AMB 1901, copyrighted 1903.)

1903

The Inn Where No Man Rests

The Inn Where No Man Rests 1903

5.80

A traveller is shown to a room in an inn. After a brief dispute with the hostess and a porter, he is left to himself. But strange things begin to happen in his room, and before long he has created a disturbance that has everyone running to his room to find out what is going on.

1903

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin 1903

4.94

Based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Eliza, a slave who has a young child, pleads with Tom, another slave, to escape with her. Tom does not leave, but Eliza flees with her child. After getting some help to escape the slave traders who are looking for her, she then must try to cross the icy Ohio River if she wants to be free. Meanwhile, Tom is sold from one master to another, and his fortunes vary widely.

1903