Short Films - Film Medium

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.

Ménilmontant (1926) Dimitri Kirsanoff

A couple is brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters, both in love with a Parisian thug and leading them to separate ways.

Oliver Twist (1909) J. Stuart Blackton

An orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.

Macbeth (1909) André Calmettes

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Drink (1908) Albert Capellani

At the time of its release, L’Assommoir was hugely successful. Based on Zola’s novel, this movie is about the free fall of human beings, deals with degradation, alcoholism and it is, in short, a very pessimistic story.