Cinema of Attractions Archives

A Turn of the Century Illusionist (1899) Georges Méliès

A magician and his assistant perform numerous magic acts including making a woman disappear.

Pillow Fight (1897) William Heise

Four girls in their night dresses, engaged in an animated pillow fight. During the action, the pillows become torn, and the feathers fly over their heads.

The Waterer Watered (1895) Alice Guy, Louis Lumière

An impudent child plays a prank on a gardener, innocently watering his plants.

A Kiss in the Tunnel (1899) George Albert Smith

A humorous subject intended to be run as a part of a railroad scene during the period in which the train is passing through a tunnel.

What Is Seen Through a Keyhole (1901) Ferdinand Zecca

As a janitor is cleaning a hotel, he decides to peek through the keyholes to observe some of the guests in their rooms. He can’t hide her confusion. There are some interesting things going on in the rooms.

That Fatal Sneeze (1907) Lewin Fitzhamon

As an older man and a youth are eating at the table, the older man decides to amuse himself by using pepper to make the boy sneeze. Later, the boy retaliates by sneaking into the older man’s room and putting pepper in his handkerchief, hairbrush, and clothing. But things quickly get out of hand when the sneezing that results begins to disrupt the whole town.

Leaving the Factory (1895) Louis Lumière

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory, a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.

Buffalo Dance (1894) William K.L. Dickson

Three Sioux Indians perform a ‘buffalo dance’ while two others use drums to supply a rhythm. The three dancers move around in a circle as they perform the various actions that are part of the dance.

The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) Alfred Clark

Mary, Queen of Scots is brought to the execution block and made to kneel down with her neck over it. The executioner lifts his axe ready to bring it down.

The X-Ray Fiend (1897) George Albert Smith

A romantic couple is flirting when a professor turns on an X-ray machine. After the professor turning X-ray off the two have a dispute and break up.