Films and TV Shows from the 1890s

poster Carmencita
Carmencita
(2.9/5)
1mn - Documentary
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through…
poster Snowball Fight
Snowball Fight
(3.4/5)
1mn - Documentary, Comedy
Wintertime in Lyon. About a dozen people, men and women, are having a snowball fight in the middle of a tree-lined street. The cyclist coming along the road becomes the target of opportunity. He falls off…
poster On the Roof
On the Roof
(2.6/5)
1mn - Crime, Comedy
Two crooks throw a lady off a roof, and a hapless policeman tries to capture them.
poster A Nightmare
A Nightmare
1mn - Horror
A man has a fantastical nightmare involving, among other things, a grinning malevolent moon.
poster Course en sacs
Course en sacs
(3.0/5)
1mn - Documentary
Shot in 1896, this playful actuality captures workers from the Lumière factory in Lyon competing in a sack race. The scene shows the participants’ comic struggles and falls, with onlookers enjoying the li…
poster The Miller and the Sweep
The Miller and the Sweep
1mn - Comedy
In front of a flour mill, two men fight. One is the miller, and he's swinging a bag of flour in the scuffle. The other is a chimney sweep, and he's swinging what may be a bag of flour, but when it breaks …
poster Ringkämpfer
Ringkämpfer
1mn - Documentary
Two men in white leotards and tights, and black slips over it, wrestle on a theatre stage.
poster The Mysterious Knight
The Mysterious Knight
2mn - Fantasy
A knight performs several magic tricks with a disembodied head materialized from a chalkboard drawing.
poster Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
1mn - Documentary
Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Pri…
poster Driving with Greenland Dogs
Driving with Greenland Dogs
1mn - Documentary
Johan Carl Joensen, a Danish colonial manager in Greenland, drives his dog sled in Copenhagen’s Fælledparken. (stumfilm.dk)
poster Panorama du grand Canal pris d'un bateau
Panorama du grand Canal pris d'un bateau
1mn - Documentary
Filmed in 1896 by Alexandre Promio for the Lumière company, this short actuality presents one of the earliest traveling shots in cinema. With the camera mounted on a gondola, the film glides along Venice’…
poster Italienischer Bauerntanz
Italienischer Bauerntanz
1mn - Documentary
Two children, Ploetz and Larella, perform an Italian peasant dance.
poster The Cavalier's Dream
The Cavalier's Dream
1mn - Horror, Fantasy
He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to …
poster Oil Gush Fire in Bibiheybat
Oil Gush Fire in Bibiheybat
(3.0/5)
1mn - Documentary
The film was filmed in Bibi-Heybat, a suburb of Baku (now the capital of Azerbaijan), during a fire at the Bibi-Heybat oil field. The film was shot on 35mm film by the Lumiere brothers in 1898. On August …
poster Die Serpentintänzerin
Die Serpentintänzerin
1mn - Documentary
A young woman dancer with large, flowing robes, swirls round herself quickly, making her light robe flow around her like a butterfly's wings.
poster Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley
1mn - Documentary, Western
A short Edison Black Maria studio film featuring famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley, known as “Little Sure Shot.” Born Phoebe Ann Oakley Mozee in Ohio in 1860, she rose to global fame performing with Buffalo…
poster Carga de rurales
Carga de rurales
1mn - Documentary
A clip by Gabriel Veyre showing horses galloping at a Mexican festival.
poster The X-Ray Fiend
The X-Ray Fiend
1mn - Comedy, Horror
A romantic couple are transformed into skeletons via X-Rays. The film combines two very recent innovations: Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, and Georges Méliès' accidental realisation of th…
poster Maple Leaf Viewing
Maple Leaf Viewing
6mn - Action, Fantasy, Music
A reel of the Noh drama Momiji-gari, in which Danjuro Ichikawa played opposite Onoe Kikugoro V as an ogress who has disguised herself as the Princess Sarashina. Filmed by Shibata Tsunekichi in the open ai…
poster Glenroy Bros., No. 2
Glenroy Bros., No. 2
1mn - Comedy
The Glenroy Brothers perform a portion of their vaudeville act, "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp & the Athlete".