Product Description

Offers a collection of more than 40 films made in the early days of the medium. All films are mastered at correct speeds from excellent source material with new musical scores. Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 12/01/1998 Run time: 117 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17810 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 1997-11-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.com
A magnificent collection for anyone interested in the earliest days of film history, this compilation of films spans the years from 1886 to 1913, from the first experiments in "serial photography" to the emergence of narrative shorts and the dawn of the feature-length film. It's a veritable archive of nearly every important film from the birth of the medium, including Edison Kinestoscope films (1894-96), films by the brothers Lumière (1895-97), the magical movies of French special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, documentary "actualities" from 1897 to 1910, and selected short films from 1903 to 1913. The two-hour collection offers a fascinating study of how motion pictures quickly developed a variety of applications and a means of artistic and practical expression, with their own emerging language of camera style, editing, and cinematography. Watching these films is like stepping into a time machine to witness the infancy of motion pictures, which would rapidly evolve to become the most powerful medium of the 20th century prior to the development of television. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive list and excellent transfer
Each chapter is a very high quality transfer. Worth much more than the purchase price. All are complete (not just clips) and many preserve the original hand-coloring. Because the list is not above, here's the content: 1. Muybridge series photography 1877-1885, 2.EDISON KINETOSCOPE FILMS 1894-1896: The Kiss, 3. Serpentine Dances, 4. Eugene Sandow, 5. Glenroy Brothers (Comic Boxing), 6. Cockfight, 7. The Barber Shop, 8. Feeding the Doves, 9. Seminary Girls, 10. LUMIERE FILMS 1895-1897 Exiting the Factory, 11. Arrival of Train at La Ciotat, 12. Baby's Lunch, 13. The Sprinkler Sprinkled, 14. Dragoons Crossing the Saone, 15. Promenade of Ostriches, Paris Bot. Gardens, 16. Childish Quarrel, 17. Lion, London Zoological Garden, 18. Demolition of a Wall, 19. Transformation By Hats, 20. Carmaux: Drawing Out the Coke, 21. Poultry-Yard, 22. Snowball Fight, 23. Card Party, 24. New York: Broadway at Union Square, 25. A Trip to the Moon (1902), 26. ACTUALITIES 1897-1910 Pres. McKinley at Home (1897), 27. Pack Train on Chilkoot Pass (1898), 28. Sky Scrapers of New York City... (1903), 29. San Francisco: Aftermath of an Earthquake (1906), 30. The Dog and his Various Merits (1908), 31. Aeroplane Flight and Wreck (1910), 32. The Great Train Robbery (1903), 33. The Whole Dam Family & the Dam Dog (1905), 34. The Golden Beetle (1907), 35. The Policememn's Little Run (1907), 36. Troubles of a Grasswidower (1908), 37. Nero, or The Fall of Rome (1909), 38. Winsor McCay and his Moving Comics (1911), 39. The Girl and Her Trust (1912), 40. Bangville Police (1913).

Highly recommended!
This package is really a must-have for anyone interested in early film history. The Edison and Lumiere films are fascinating to watch. The two landmark narrative films are presented here: "A Trip to the Moon" includes the original narration as Melies intended, and "The Great Train Robbery" includes the original color tinting. And even though the link for "The Great Train Robbery" at the bottom of this page points to IMDB's page for the 1904 remake, the version on the DVD is Edwin S. Porter's original 1903 version. Among the later films on this DVD, "The Policemen's Little Run" is hilarious, and it offers excellent images from 1907 Paris. I haven't even watched the last two films on this disc. I'm going slowly and savoring each one.....

Fascinating on many levels
It's amazing to see what the world looked like at the turn of the century, and you couldn't ask for a more beautiful production. There's great variety in this presentation as you can see from the contents.

It's especially nice to have full films, rather than clips. I also find it very interesting to see what was considered humorous at the time. In the 1905 film, "The Whole Dam Family, and the Dam Dog", for example, there is minimal action, the humor coming from wordplay in the titles which may seem juvenile today, but at the same time show great playfulness. This is just one of the many pleasures to be found on this incredible disc.

Next, move on to Volume 2, for an in-depth look at the films of Melies!