Sena 1900 - 3

The scene opens on a theatrical stage. The magician enters from the wings, and making a bow to the audience, removes his coat and hat and they disappear mysteriously in the air. He then takes a white handkerchief from his pocket, holds it over his knees, and his long trousers disappear, and behold! he is clad in knickerbockers. He next makes a pass with a magic wand and a table suddenly appears before the audience, on which is a large pile of tissue paper. The magician takes up the paper and shakes it a few times and three live geese fly out upon the floor. This is a highly pleasing and mystifying subject.

A man attempts to shave with a blunt razor.

The 1900 Paris World's Fair as seen from Trocadéro.

A very simple gag film as a young lady substitutes herself for a dummy in order to play a practical joke on an artist.

Four men each hold a large slice of watermelon, and have a race to see who can finish eating first. All four move quickly, but one man seems to be pulling ahead of the others. Soon the contestants begin to hinder one another's efforts.

Showing the attacking forces drawn up in line of battle. They immediately commence firing on the shore batteries. The batteries return the fire with telling effect, but are at last silenced by the overwhelming forces of the enemy. In the distance can be seen the ruins of a bridge destroyed by the invading forces. The smoke thickens as the firing becomes general, and the effect is superb.

Two delinquent clerks are seated in a broker's office engaged in a game of cards. The boss suddenly appears walking through the corridor. The cards are thrown down in great haste and when the employer enters the office the clerks are apparently busily engaged in their work.

Uncle Josh checks into a hotel, presumably to get a better nights rest than he gets at home. Of course the way bad luck follows Josh around we know this is a forlorn hope. Sure enough, quicker than you can say "Georges Méliès" a ghost pops up to make sure Uncle Josh is denied a good nights rest.

People gather at the exit of the St. Trophime cathedral in Arles.

It's what it says on the label: a panoramic shot of East Galveston, right after the Storm of the Century came through, ripping up trees and destroying house like they were made of cards. Then, a decade and a half later came another Storm of the Century for Galveston.

A shot of a busy street in Paris is shown in reverse.

James White, the Edison Company's main filmmaker at the time, realized a burst of creativity during his visit to the 1900 Paris Exposition. It's uncertain who his cameraman was for this journey, but historian Charles Musser suggests that it might've been Alfred C. Abadie. In their Paris Exposition films, they introduced tilting (see 'Panorama of Eiffel Tower') and, although panning and panoramas had already been around for a while, they introduced some novel functions for them.

The plot outlines the story of the early Christian martyrs with a compendium of horrors such as maulings at the Colosseum, crucifixions, beheadings, savage hackings and burnings at the stake, burnings in the limepit, the spectacle of human torches in Nero's garden.

A child borrows his grandmother's magnifying glass to look at a newspaper ad for Bovril, at a watch, and then at a bird. The child shows grandma what he is doing. The child looks next at grandma's eye, then at a kitten.

Four mountaineers descend a snow-covered mountain.

The fairy at a cabbage patch hovers over the babies. This is a remake of Guy's 1896 film on the same subject, this time shot in 35 mm.

Reenactment of a South African battle.

A turn-of-the-last-century hand-tinted short, which features two women, Miss Lally and Miss Julyett, dancing at a ball. By the legendary French filmmaker Alice Guy (attributed only, but not confirmed in any primary sources).

Overview of the Alexandre III bridge during the World Exhibition in Paris.

The famous Madison Square Garden forms the background of this excellent picture. A number of very fine automobiles pass in this strip, coming close to the camera and show clear and life size. A very strange coincidence in the closing of the picture is two old ladies who drive by in a dilapidates looking buggy drawn by a long eared mule. This is a remarkable picture showing up-to-date means of transportation in New York City, and the incident of the mule and the two old ladies adds a sufficient amount of humor.