A young woman sitting on a bench in the public park is annoyed by an old man sitting next to her and paying her persistent attention. Resenting this ridiculous flirtation, the young lady rises to leave, but the old man tries to stop her, so she pushes him down and is soon seen seeking more peaceful quarters. The old flirt, disgusted, starts reading his paper, when his attention is attracted by an advertisement of some wonderful pills. (Moving Picture World)
We can see the children of the director playing and dancing, obviously getting told what to do while it happens, and later on his wife knitting with the children around her.
An early account of Marat's murder, and the subsequent arrest, trial, and execution of Charlotte Corday.
The Germans were not far behind when if came to experimenting with sound and the surviving discs seem like a curious anachronism because they closely resemble the Vitaphone discs from the mid-1920s: about sixteen inches in diameter and the track started from the center and the needle moved out.
Tonbild (early form of sync sound film). The music is the sextet from Act Two of Lucia di Lammermoor, sung in German.
The story follows an absurdly calm and indifferent man whose every action is extreme yet executed with total composure. When his doorbell breaks, he shoots a mirror to summon his valet. On a walk, he shoots down a window that drops on a man’s head, lights a cigarette in front of an oncoming car, and hijacks a cab at gunpoint. At a hotel, he breaks dishes, tips a waiter who spills soup on him, and leaves wearing another guest’s coat. Even when stabbed by robbers, he calmly removes the dagger and hands it to a policeman. Returning home, he shoots open his door, but his composure is finally tested by mosquitoes. His valet catches and powders each insect, astonishing his otherwise unflappable master.
Actuality segment showing King Gustaf V’s visit to Ystad on 10 July 1908. Footage includes his arrival in a landau with white horses, interactions with local dignitaries, parade of military, crowds by the train station, and waving farewell as he departs.
Travelogue taking viewers on a tour of Stockholm in 1908. The film begins with a panoramic view from the Belvedere, then shows the busy harbor, wharves, and rail yard with a jack-knife bridge in operation. It concludes with a tram-top ride through the city’s main business streets, capturing the bustle of modern urban life. Issued in Sweden under the title Ett besök i Stockholm, it is distinct from the newsreel footage of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra’s state visit.
A woman buys a dog, loses the dog and then sets up a reward for that dog.
After a fight in the forest against customs officers, one of the smugglers is denied of his share of the profits and thrown away. Making his way into the village, he will ask for help to the wife of the customs officer he assaulted.
Typical story where the father (a farmer) of a beautiful girl desires a wealthy man as a son-in-law and rejects her poor but honest suitor.
A young lady heads to dancing classes and, telling a young boy about it, he decides to join her. Neither show any aptitude or ability and thoroughly disgusted, the dance professor grabs a huge knife, with which he severs their bodies at the waist. The dismembered limbs continue dancing away on their own, and the upper part of the dismembered bodies must give them chase.
Reading that a certain dealer has an ancient Egyptian mummy for sale, an antique professor goes out to inspect the curio. It meets with his satisfaction and he purchases it. He begins to carry the thing home, and meets with quite a little trouble; but his will makes the way and he reaches his room safely. Anxious to begin his investigations, he sheds his coat quickly, rolls up his sleeves, and taking his huge carving knife in hand begins to cut the mummy up. His old landlady passes by and sees her boarder at his peculiar work; he is so engrossed in his task that he does not see her, and she, catching a glimpse of a human form, runs out in alarm. With the cry that a man is being cut up in her house, she summons the butcher, the baker, the grocer and a score of women, who follow in wonder.
"The angel in this film is a little girl who is struggling hard to keep alive her old mother, who is lying ill on a pile of rags. She tries in various piteous ways to scrape together-enough to keep her parent alive, and one scene shows her on the steps of the church, where are also gathered a number of beggars of various descriptions. As the people leave the church they pass through and give their mite as they will; in this way the girl receives a few coins and with this she purchases some refreshment for her mother. With skipping, joyful steps the little angel goes back to the hovel and bends over the form. But as she reaches down her mother suddenly falls back, and in another moment is dead. The child, dazed and taken completely by terrible surprise, quakes for a few seconds with emotion then loses her reason..." Moving Picture World, March 1908
An old man attempts to hang a picture on the wall and asks for a step-ladder. His assistant takes a little too long to get it to him.
“Kvinnliga akademiska fotbollsklubben Virginia: Ko-misk!” is one of five films (three of which are now lost) that were made by students at the University of Lund, Sweden, as a part of their 1908 carnival. The film is a parody of female students engaging in sports.
Precious footage of the 1908 Olympics shows the main venue, White City Stadium, with brief glimpses of pole vaulting, gymnastics, high jump, swimming, throwing the discus, tug of war and women’s archery.
Lost film, one of several adaptation of Shakespeare's play from the silent era. Do not confuse with Mario Caserini's version, released in May of the same year.
Distinguished physician and sanitation officer Dr. William Gorgas takes a train ride around Colón, Panama Canal Zone with a companion.
