Aasta 1908 - 9
Drama in a Gypsy Camp Near Moscow 1908
Two gypsy lovers sneak away from camp at night. The man proposes, the woman refuses. He then murders her with a knife. The body is immediately discovered. The distraught man then leaps off a cliff to the rocks below.
The Magic Mirror 1908
A remarkable early short silent movie that shows what may be achieved with the technology of the day. A woman sits in front of her dressing table mirror, looking at her jewellery and her reflection in the mirror. Suddenly, another woman appears in the mirror. As the woman watches, the image changes to other women. As the woman looks at her jewellery, women's faces begin to appear in the jewellery stones.
The Duke's Good Joke 1908
A mischievous duke comes across a drunkard in a town square, and decides to pull a practical joke. He has the drunkard carried to the ducal palace and dressed as a nobleman, where he is made to receive courtiers. A banquet is prepared for the fake nobleman, who is too far gone to understand the situation, and unusual things seem to begin occurring. When the drunkard attempts to get more to drink, the bottle magically grows to giant size and disappears, so the duke's servants bring in a large funnel and fill the drunkard up, with his stomach swelling up like a balloon to fit. The duke's doctors work to deflate him back to normal. The drunkard tries to get some sleep, but the paintings on the walls come to life, showing him all sorts of scenes of people drinking merrily.
A Very Fine Lady 1908
Renée Carl stars in this lively slapstick silent short as a beautiful lady who causes distractions and accidents among the male population as she walks though the streets of Paris.
La Dolores 1908
A small village in Aragón, Spain, at the end of the 19th century. After being caught by her father fooling around with Melchor, an unscrupulous womanizer, being disgraced and losing everything, young Dolores is forced to take to the roads in search of work.
The Fatal Hour 1908
A young woman (Linda Arvidson) is kidnapped by a band of opportunistic Chinese slavers, led by devious Pong Lee (Harry Solter). A resourceful female police operative (Marion Leonard) is determined to rescue her, and tracks the mastermind of the kidnap plot, Hendricks (George Gebhardt). Though successful in her rescue effort, the rescuer ends up being made a prisoner herself. The slavers plan to make her the victim of a pistol shot to be triggered by the hands of a clock. The heroine is rescued by police seconds before the hands of the clock reach the "fatal hour".
After Many Years 1908
A castaway returns home after years lost at sea, to the wife and child he left behind. Has she waited faithfully or has she moved on?
The Electric Hotel 1908
An enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.
The New Lord of the Village 1908
There's a scene in a village, then there's a scene out in the wilderness with what appear to be gods, and a giant crab, and a giant frog... then there's another scene in the village... and that's it.
Balked at the Altar 1908
A woman who is filled with romantic ideas is making no secret of her eagerness to find a husband. Her father decides to help her by pressuring and threatening an eligible bachelor, who reluctantly allows wedding plans to be made.
'Ostler Joe 1908
Stable hostler Joe loves his wife Annie, but she leaves him and their child for a wealthy gentleman, only to die destitute in London, where Joe's enduring love brings her solace in her final moments.
Jim is Fond of Garlic 1908
In this comedy we see a fellow giving orders to the cook to put plenty of garlic in his food, and she complies with his wishes by giving everything an extra dose of the unpleasant ingredient. The first victim of the fumes is a dog that is seated beside the table, and when the fellow blows his breath on the animal he falls over unconscious from the effects. Next he prostrates a street cleaner and a painter perched on a ladder, as well as a woman in charge of a newsstand. They all succumb and fall over unconscious on the ground. He enters the subway and meets a man coming up the stairs, and when the latter gets a whiff of the garlic he too, goes down in a heap. Entering the car in the underground road he proceeds to waft the strong odor over the passengers, with the effect that each in turn goes down and out on the floor of the coach. When he reaches the next station he alights, leaving the car looking more like a hospital than anything.
The Man in the Box 1908
A poorly compensated bank clerk is, we may say, to that trying position of "Tantalus" in sight of tons of money but not a dollar of his own. This became more torturing as time went on, until at last, when the bank was arranging to ship a large quantity of cash to the West to relieve the recent money stringency, he made up his mind to heed the solicitude of that specter which had haunted him. Listening to the instructions given to the bank's messenger as to the shipment of the funds, he hustles off to a gang of crooks in whose company he had fallen.
Count Ugolino 1908
Directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro.
In the Barber Shop 1908
One fine day at a barbershop that has stupid staff and very rude customers.
The Little Peace Maker 1908
French silent short film by Georges Méliès, presumed to be lost.
At the French Ball 1908
A husband finishes packing a suitcase, and then says good-bye to his wife. As soon as he is gone, the wife has her maid help her to dress for a costume ball...
Money Mad 1908
The central figure is an old miser, a Harpagon of sorts, who, like Frosine, stashes his ill-gotten money in a secret cellar. While the miser is at the bank, exchanging stolen notes for gold coin, a couple of thugs witness the transaction and see their opportunity-- It seems avarice grips the hearts of all those who'd possess the bag.
The Pumpkin Race 1908
Early slapstick short from Louis Feuillade involving runaways, except that, instead of it being a runaway horse (see Griffith's THE CURTAIN POLE for an example), it is a cartful of what appear to be hundred-pound pumpkins that get away, rushing hither and yon, down sewers, up chimneys, pursued by the drayer, a couple of other people and a very unwilling donkey.











