Ferdinand Zecca

A conjurer with white beard and turban moves about in front of a building with an elaborate facade. He spies a golden beetle, about the size of a human infant, leaning against the wall. He snatches it up, conjures a fire, and tosses the beetle in. It escapes the fire in the form of a fairy... (imdb)

A policeman spots a dog stealing a piece of meat from a butcher's shop, and gives chase. Soon several more policemen have joined the pursuit. But the chase does not turn out as the policemen expect. (imdb)

A hotel porter tries in his spare time to find out the secrets of the guests in looking through the keyholes of the different rooms. He must see very funny things, judging from his facial expressions. (imdb)

A man flirts with a beautiful woman, but then the dream ends and he wakes up next to his wife.

The cell of a man condemned to death. He's sleeping and dreaming about the past that brought him to prison: a frantic pace of living, bad friendships, alcoholism, the murder of a bank-employer. At the end he dreams of climbing up scaffolding, and he suddenly wakes up... (imdb)

Early Hand-colored film depicting the story of Jesus.

A delightful and typical farce film, ending with the usual Gallic chase.

Captivated by a vision of beckoning women, a man dives into the ocean, and soon finds himself walking on the ocean floor. After encountering numerous sea creatures, he comes to a giant oyster. When the oyster is opened, a strange adventure begins for the diver. (imdb)

In an unnamed place, his majesty Satan is bored. Despite his servants exertions, nothing can be found to cheer him up. (imdb)

A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him. (imdb)

A moral story on what happens to a man if he starts to drink and gamble.

Apparently inspired by the antics of Harry Houdini, Slippery Jim opens in the office of a police commissioner to whom a rather cocky villain is presented. The commissioner orders the prisoner to be clapped in irons, but this proves to be easier said than done because our anti-hero - presumably the Slippery Jim of the title - proves to be an expert escapologist. (imdb)

Technically, this series of disappearances, appearances and transformation which Segundo de Chomon directed, is as good as anything that Mleies did. The earlier ones, where people come out of the mirror separately, dance with each other and then go back in as as brilliantly timed tricks of masking as could be wished for. (imdb)

Using a blue tint to set the scene under the sea, this is a short, surprisingly violent film where two divers fight to the death with axes over some treasure beneath the waves.

An oppressive droning score makes this rendering of the Faust legend quite disturbing to watch. The film itself consists of a number of impressive 'appearing out of thin air' effects, some lavish costumes, sets and backdrops. A climactic sword fight between a man and the devil is a standout scene.

This is a short, simple ballet performance. Colors are used here, but the print is quite badly damaged.

This relies on the viewer knowing the story of the Ali Baba tale, but the use of colour and sets are impressive.

A drunk staggers into his apartment and falls asleep. He dreams he climbs to the top of a building and flies to the moon, then falls back to earth. When he wakes, still drunk, he is in his apartment.

A woman puts a bust on a table. It comes to life, transforms into a butterfly, and produces two babies. (scifilm.org)

All kinds of visual tricks: transformations, apparitions, sudden disappearances.

An old woman is invited in to the farmers' home. She then reveals herself to be a magic fairy and makes the snow disappear and flowers magically appear. (imdb)

A man flies his plane "Fend l'Air" over Paris.

A father and son are working in a coal mine. An explosion occurs, which kills the son. (imdb)

The opening of this remarkable and mysterious film brings into view a scene in a parlor, with two servants discussing the easiest way to hang four pictures which are leaning against the wall on the floor. The artful butler suggests to the pretty short-skirted parlor-maid that she should hang the pictures from the step-ladder which he hastens to secure from an adjoining room. (imdb)

Some naughty scenes from a balcony.

A political quarrel between two men that ends in laughter.

On the theater stage, a magician makes appear and disappear his partners

Reproduction of the terrible catastrophe which annihilated the town of St. Peter on May 8, 1902.

This picture describes the well-known biblical story of Samson and Delila. The picture commences with Samson's visit to Gaza, a city of the Philistines. While there they closed the gates upon him and set watchmen to defend them, intending to put him to death on the following day. Samson slept until midnight, and then arose. Upon reaching the gates, he slew the watchman, pulled down the gates and carried them to the top of an adjoining hill. (imdb)

A magician performs tricks with a chicken and eggs. (imdb)

Early silent adaptation of the fairy-tale Puss In Boots.

A self-proclaimed "knight" and his hapless squire travel the Spanish countryside, attacking "giants" that are really windmills in his attempt to win the love of the fair Dulcinea. (imdb)

A 8-chapter ("tableaux") short film that tells the story of a gambler who ends his life on the guillotine.

An opium smoker intoxicated by this poison, falls asleep and dreams that he is in prison.

The Clever Baker, shows a not so clever baker baking.

A man is chased by ten women!

A father sets out to avenge the murder of his daughter.

A man buys the novel The Invisible Man by "G.H. Wells" at a bookshop, and in it finds the recipe for Wells' invisibility potion. Then the opportunity makes the thief. (imdb)

An honest worker is made redundant, but he will solve his problems by marrying the employer's daughter.

A man kills a wealthy miser - frugal fellow, I like to think - and buries his corpse under a haystack. The murderer is haunted by the ghost of his victim....or is it his own conscience?

A man walks down to the water's edge, takes off his clothes and prepares to go for a swim.... only to find himself fully clothed. This happens again and again.

Old gentleman stretches himself on the long seat of a French railway car, after placing numerous bundles in the rack above him, and also in the rack over the seat in the opposite side of the compartment. Train stops at next station and lady enters with her pet dog. Having bundles of her own which she wishes to place in the rack over her seat, she takes down the old man's bundles and places them on him and his seat. She then begins to fondle the dog. Old man gets angry.

To the modern viewer, it may seem peculiar that there are several movies in which a man sneaks a kiss off a young woman in a darkened railway car, all produced in the first few years of the motion picture.

An illiterate man with some sense of intestinal urgency needs to find the right door at a railroad station. He chooses… the wrong door.

A prisoner attempts an escape from a brutal penal institution.

Two men get into a knife fight, in a possibly Spanish tavern, and and one of them kills another and escapes. He takes refuge in his house but escapes when the guard arrives, starting a persecution to the death.

Backward facing camera stunt story of a man coming out of the water.

Behind the elderly husband's back, the lovers kiss and go off together. But is he unaware of their actions. No! So she swears that her husband is mad and as I'mm locked away in a padded cell. That, however, will not end the matter.

In this interesting picture we are given a vivid idea of the principal incidents connected with the Dreyfus case, which caused such a stir in military circles in the year of 1894. Alfred Dreyfus, an officer on the general staff, was charged with selling secrets to a foreign power. He was tried and judged guilty on flimsy evidence, and sentenced to imprisonment on Devil's Island, where he remained for eight years, until his influential friends, who took up his case in earnest.

Maxime Vermont tries to get a financial help from his father-in-law, to no avail. Deeply indebted, Maxime attempts to kill his father-in-law so that he could make quick money.

During a strike, several workers are killed in a confrontation. The wife of one of them kills the factory owner. At her trial, the owner's son asks for mercy, knowing that his father was wrong. Because of that the wife is freed.