PROGRESS UPDATE
A goal of Greg on their OLD 101 Things list with a status of In Progress.
1899- KING JOHN
https://youtu.be/7lWn99STB1o
Oldest known filming of any Shakespeare work. Only about a quarter of the film still survives of the Her Majesty's Theatre London production. In the scenes, the king has been poisoned and is in the throes of fever. Interesting for historical reasons only.
1900-SHERLOCK HOLMES BAFFLED
https://youtu.be/1H9RfBQmN6w
The very first cinematic depiction of Sherlock Holmes. Honestly, this one was pretty bad.
The issue isn't that it's overacted or weak from a technical perspective. It's a waste of time even allowing for the limitations of film. The jump cut is heavily used to make the thief magically appear and disappear.
What's great about Sherlock as a character is that he takes scientific data and observations to solve what on the surface looks as though it has a supernatural culprit (case in point THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES). This film's attempt at levity falls entirely flat. The TV series with Benedict Cumberbatch is a much better way to see a humorous slant while maintaining the actual essence of Holmes IMO.
1901 FIRE!
https://youtu.be/w_Hnzuyyg84
This film is actually pretty dramatic. As you would expect, it showcases heroic firemen battling a raging blaze and saving several people from the engulfed domicile. It is credited, along with GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, as being one of the first movies to string scenes into a chronological framework to tell a story.
One unrealistic point: After the fireman hoists a man who seems to be battling smoke inhalation over his shoulder and down the ladder to safety, a second woman, presumably the man's spouse, is brought out the front door. The firefighter hands her off to the same hubby who was likely gasping for breath moments before.
1902-LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE
https://youtu.be/ZNAHcMMOHE8
This Georges Méliès film was an integral part of the plot of the movie HUGO.
1903- THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_(1903_film)
Part of the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Also obviously the inspiration for an homage on The Brady Bunch. The movie was influential for its use of cross cutting (showing action occurring simultaneously in more than one location) and for breaking the "fourth wall" (an actor at the end appears to "shoot" the audience). You can see it at:
https://youtu.be/y3jrB5ANUUY
1904- WESTINGHOUSE WORKS This is not a single film but rather a series of 29 films (21 apparently still survive) shot inside Westinghouse factories and shown at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. There aren't any captions for these shorts so it isn't always terribly clear what's happening although the IMDB listings give a BIT of detail.
"Panoramic View, Aisle B" makes good use of a crane shot as they slowly pan across the facility.
It appeared that the inspectors in "Assembling and Testing Turbines" were in SUITS in a dirty factory although this may have been for the camera's benefit.
"Welding the Big Ring" had the most visual drama as workers swarm around a molten ring smacking it into shape with the help of sledgehammers.
This was shot prior to the banning of child labor in the U.S. so I tried to see what types of jobs they were doing but I couldn't pick any obvious children out. You do get to see how hazardous working conditions were then. Lots of people working around white-hot metal with no protective equipment of any kind. (In "Tapping the furnace" you see workers casually step over the top of a long slide sending lava-hot metal into a vat perched below. One false move and ouch!) You also have to wonder how they did it considering the manic pace exhibited by the workers. A working day was typically between 10 and 16 hours then.
(https://www.theclassroom.com/1900s-poor-working-conditions-13656694.html)
1905- THE BLACK IMP
https://youtu.be/_KJw9Srz43Q
If you've seen the 2011 flick HUGO, you're familiar with the name Georges Meliés. This one features a lot of comedic use of the jump cut.
https://youtu.be/7lWn99STB1o
Oldest known filming of any Shakespeare work. Only about a quarter of the film still survives of the Her Majesty's Theatre London production. In the scenes, the king has been poisoned and is in the throes of fever. Interesting for historical reasons only.
1900-SHERLOCK HOLMES BAFFLED
https://youtu.be/1H9RfBQmN6w
The very first cinematic depiction of Sherlock Holmes. Honestly, this one was pretty bad.
The issue isn't that it's overacted or weak from a technical perspective. It's a waste of time even allowing for the limitations of film. The jump cut is heavily used to make the thief magically appear and disappear.
What's great about Sherlock as a character is that he takes scientific data and observations to solve what on the surface looks as though it has a supernatural culprit (case in point THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES). This film's attempt at levity falls entirely flat. The TV series with Benedict Cumberbatch is a much better way to see a humorous slant while maintaining the actual essence of Holmes IMO.
1901 FIRE!
https://youtu.be/w_Hnzuyyg84
This film is actually pretty dramatic. As you would expect, it showcases heroic firemen battling a raging blaze and saving several people from the engulfed domicile. It is credited, along with GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, as being one of the first movies to string scenes into a chronological framework to tell a story.
One unrealistic point: After the fireman hoists a man who seems to be battling smoke inhalation over his shoulder and down the ladder to safety, a second woman, presumably the man's spouse, is brought out the front door. The firefighter hands her off to the same hubby who was likely gasping for breath moments before.
1902-LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE
https://youtu.be/ZNAHcMMOHE8
This Georges Méliès film was an integral part of the plot of the movie HUGO.
1903- THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_(1903_film)
Part of the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Also obviously the inspiration for an homage on The Brady Bunch. The movie was influential for its use of cross cutting (showing action occurring simultaneously in more than one location) and for breaking the "fourth wall" (an actor at the end appears to "shoot" the audience). You can see it at:
https://youtu.be/y3jrB5ANUUY
1904- WESTINGHOUSE WORKS This is not a single film but rather a series of 29 films (21 apparently still survive) shot inside Westinghouse factories and shown at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. There aren't any captions for these shorts so it isn't always terribly clear what's happening although the IMDB listings give a BIT of detail.
"Panoramic View, Aisle B" makes good use of a crane shot as they slowly pan across the facility.
It appeared that the inspectors in "Assembling and Testing Turbines" were in SUITS in a dirty factory although this may have been for the camera's benefit.
"Welding the Big Ring" had the most visual drama as workers swarm around a molten ring smacking it into shape with the help of sledgehammers.
This was shot prior to the banning of child labor in the U.S. so I tried to see what types of jobs they were doing but I couldn't pick any obvious children out. You do get to see how hazardous working conditions were then. Lots of people working around white-hot metal with no protective equipment of any kind. (In "Tapping the furnace" you see workers casually step over the top of a long slide sending lava-hot metal into a vat perched below. One false move and ouch!) You also have to wonder how they did it considering the manic pace exhibited by the workers. A working day was typically between 10 and 16 hours then.
(https://www.theclassroom.com/1900s-poor-working-conditions-13656694.html)
1905- THE BLACK IMP
https://youtu.be/_KJw9Srz43Q
If you've seen the 2011 flick HUGO, you're familiar with the name Georges Meliés. This one features a lot of comedic use of the jump cut.
Posted 4 years ago
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