Hélène, the daughter of a wealthy shipowner, receives a letter from Jean, her lover, who wants to see her to find out her father's answer about their marriage. The father refuses and Jean must embark. The father goes to the boat and sabotages it.
Silent film footage from late Qing dynasty China, depicting everyday scenes.
Rempailleur is the French word for the person who repairs the wicker seat in chairs, and that's the central joke in this short comedy. A rubber-legged clown carries around more chairs than he can hold, has them stolen and steal other chairs.
Early sound short from Deutsche Bioscop GmbH.
Sigmund Liban sings forty second from the prologue to PAGLIACCI in this early sound film.
German Tonbild.
A proud father takes his many children to an outing.
A masher approaches a lady on the street who is elegantly dressed, but when he gets near enough to see her face he changes his mind so suddenly that he is glad to get away. The ugly woman passes on, however, and on reaching the store of a beauty doctor, decides to step in. The M.D. promises her complete satisfaction and gets busy promptly. First he subjects her mud-colored marcelled hair to a treatment, and in a little while she has beautiful raven-black hair. He massages her face and removes all dermatological defects, and finally gets to work on her teeth; in a few more seconds the woman emerges from the place a fine specimen of natural brunette beauty, with teeth like so many pearls. This time when she meets a gentleman on the street he promptly offers his arm.
These extraordinary views of life and landscape in Beijing were filmed during the last years of China's Qing dynasty, before the 1911 Xinhai Revolution overthrew imperial rule. The focus is on everyday life, and the views of hawkers, laborers, traders, and artisans reveal the city’s vibrant street culture. Especially striking is the shot of a barber preening his client’s 'Manchu queue' hairstyle.
French film.
For the benefit of those who are not fortunate enough to travel and enjoy the beauties and customs of different countries, a film of this kind is an innovation, for it takes us on a boat down the beautiful Imperial Canal of China. If we were there in reality it could not be much more enjoyable than this picture, which favors us with a wonderful view of the famous wall of China as it stands to-day in a stage of decay, a monument to a famous fanatical nation.
Film about an inventor going wild
Footage of a Milan carneval in 1908
Although it is very near Christmas, when everybody should rejoice, a sailor bound for a dangerous expedition takes leave of his wife, and the poor woman is seen following with dim eyes the departing ship, her heart apparently heavy with grief. After having cried and prayed on a cross, the grass-widow returns to the farm to resume her duties and takes a sack of wheat to the next mill. The miller, knowing of the sailor's departure, and finding the lass very agreeable and charming, after having seen to the wheat bag, gives his whole attention to the young woman, and he does not seem to mind very much the clumsy advances made by the workingman. They part after a rather excited confab, and have evidently made an appointment for the evening at the church, for it is a Christmas celebration. We follow the two young people in the chapel, then to a bonfire dance, and lastly we see them both driving away in a country cart.
Documentary short showing traditional marriage celebration in rural France.
Song from an Operetta.
Shots of Morocco, including a harbour town with a fortress.
Silent pull the mourners behind the coffins of their unfortunate colleagues past the camera.
A jungle travelogue looking for monkeys.
