.Yl 1897 - 2

From Edison films catalog: A long line of horses, mules and ponies are led, driven and ridden into the yards, where they are sold and distributed.

Panorama from the Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, 1897.

The hen house occupies the entire left foreground of the picture, running back to the nearby road. The main foreground is filled with tall grass swept by the wind, the naturalness of which effect is remarkable. A thief appears 'round the corner, carrying a tattered sack. He suspiciously approaches the window, from which two fowl are handed to him by a black confederat, who himself suddenly appears at the window, falling out head first but clinging tenaciously to a fluttering white bird.

Most movie fans know that the first filmmakers liked to shoot trains entering stations. This example by Sussex film pioneer George Albert Smith illustrates why. The train's rush towards the audience brings movement and visual drama. The flurry of human activity offers plenty for the audience to engage with - who are these people and where are they going? And the time pressure exerted by the fact that the train must soon depart adds narrative tension - will everyone get on and off in time?

Master kisses maid behind a blanket on the clothes line and is seen by his wife.

Late 1800s cigarette advertisement produced by Thomas Edison Manufacturing.

Groups of men and women, parading in Interlaken, Switzerland, some of them carrying banners.

A funeral parade in Cairo.

Remake of the 1895 comedy by the Lumière Brothers. A similar scene is filmed from a different angle, and a young man has replaced the prankster child. This film was made by Henri Lavesque under the name of Brother Basile-Joseph. All of his production was appropriated by Gaumont by the end of 1897 to be distributed as demonstrations for Georges Demenÿ's 60mm Chronophotographe.

A robber forces a luckless stroller in the park to remove his hat, coat, waistcoat and trousers.

Silent film directed by Georges Demenÿ for Gaumont. An actual remake of the Lumiére brothers' "Démolition d'un mur" (1896).