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- A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- The first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
- Here is a picture that is extremely laughable. An old man is indulging in a dream, which dream is demonstrated in the picture. It shows him in a restaurant partaking of a sumptuous meal and a bottle of wine with a soubrette. There is a sudden awakening, however, and in an apparently disgusted mood, he finds himself in his own bed and his wife endeavoring to induce him to get up and build the fire.
- Performing on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.
- The execution of Topsy, a female elephant, in a publicity stunt advertising the opening of Luna Park on Coney Island. Topsy was originally owned by Forepaugh Circus where she killed a drunken spectator who burned the tip of her trunk with a cigar. She was sold to Sea Lion Park in 1902 which was then sold to new owners who turned it into Luna Park. After they decided they could no longer handle her, the owners of Luna Park announced they would hang Topsy, leading to an outcry by the ASPCA. The owners then decided they would electrocute the elephant, with a backup plan of feeding her cyanide-laced carrots and strangling her with a cable.
- This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.
- A divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred after she is captured.
- This short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
- In a medium close-up shot of the first kiss ever recorded on screen, two fervent lovers cuddle and talk passionately at hair's breadth, just before the love-smitten gentleman decides to give his chosen one an innocent peck.
- The earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.
- A fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out?
- Much to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
- A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.
- A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.
- One of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.
- A man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera and cinematographer. He steps back, chews, and grins.
- Based on the story by Charles Dickens: Ebenezer Scrooge is well known for his harsh, miserly ways, until he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, and then by three other spirits.
- The fiend faces the spectacular mind-bending consequences of his free-wheeling rarebit binge.
- Robinson Crusoe and Friday fight with hostile natives, and eventually retire to their jungle cottage to relax.
- James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney meet in a boxing exhibition.
- Film "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" based on the novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll.
- A woman being fitted for shoes exposes her ankle to the shoe clerk, who is intrigued. He kisses her, but her chaperone hits him with her umbrella.
- Smith casts his wife as a sluttish housewife who is mutilated by lighting her oven with paraffin.
- The story of Ononko's Vow is a pretty love tale through which is intertwined the story of an Indian's fidelity to his promise. The prologue takes place during the course of the Bloody Brook Massacre when an Indian chief, one of the rescuing party, saves a young Puritan, Jonathan Smith, from the tomahawk of a hostile Indian. Ungagook is the name of this chief, and he is accompanied by his little ten-year-old son, Ononko. Ungagook unknown to Smith receives his death wound in rescuing the latter. Together the chief and his son come to the house of Smith and as they see him safely to his door the colonist's young wife expresses her thanks to Ungagook. The chief makes a gesture which is intended to convey the Idea that he thinks lightly of what he has done, and immediately thereafter betrays the fact that he is mortally hurt. He expires in the home of Smith, but before doing so has his little son Ononko promise fidelity to the family in whose house his spirit goes to the Great Manitou. Twenty-eight years later we see how Ononko, now a vigorous young brave, keeps the pledge which he made his father in the years gone by. Deerfield has been sacked. Jonathan Smith and his daughter Ruth, who has just been affianced to Ebenezer Dow, are driven before the tomahawks and flintlocks of the Indians. Dow has gone for assistance, managing to evade the raiders, and the rescuing party comes from the settlement below. Jonathan Smith is saved by a trapper, but his daughter Ruth is among the colonists who are being taken on across the meadow toward Pine Hill and thence to Canada. Ononko has seen the light in the sky from the village below and has hastened with the relieving party of colonists and Narragansett Indians to the scene. He enters the room where the colonists had stoutly defended themselves but where most of them were massacred. Failing to find his friend he seeks him without, and meets him as he is leaving the awful scene of carnage. Learning from the father that his daughter is among the retreating Indians, Ononko promises to seek for her and bring her back to the grieving old man. The story ends in his successfully carrying out his promise. After the rescue, which is accomplished in a most thrilling manner, we see the young colonist and his bride-to-be approaching the edge of the settlement under the guidance of the tall young chief of the Narragansetts. Behind them walks their friend, the trapper. Ononko stands at the edge of the forest and points toward the settlement below. The three others pass him and turn to bid him good-bye, first asking him to proceed with them into the village. Ononko refuses. Why? Perhaps because in the breast of the handsome savage some gentle thought of the girl he has saved has entered: but his nobility of character permits him to entertain the thought only for a fleeting moment. When Ruth was in captivity she was protected from the snow only by the woolen dress she wore. On the homeward march Ononko had given her his blanket to keep her warm. As he bids Ebenezer and his pretty fiancée farewell Ruth offers Ononko his blanket, which she is wearing. The young chief prettily presents it to Ebenezer and places it across the shoulders of the girl. After accepting the gift the young people go to their home, their trapper friend accompanying them. Ononko stands contemplating the settlement below him. What his thoughts may be the observer is left to imagine. At the finish of the film we again see Mr. Sheldon bidding good-bye to the two young people who have been visiting his town.
- A cartoonist defies reality when he draws objects that become three-dimensional after he lifts them off his sketch pad.
- "A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)
- The very first American film shown to public audiences and the press. It depicts William K.L. Dickson taking off his hat and greeting the audience.
- Annie Oakley, the 'Little Miss Sure Shot' of the 'Wild West' gives an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls and clay pigeons in a film from the Edison Catalog.
- An athlete swings Indian clubs.
- Based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Eliza, a slave who has a young child, pleads with Tom, another slave, to escape with her. Tom does not leave, but Eliza flees with her child. After getting some help to escape the slave traders who are looking for her, she then must try to cross the icy Ohio River if she wants to be free. Meanwhile, Tom is sold from one master to another, and his fortunes vary widely.
- An extremely persistent young American, who is passionately in love, in attempting to pay court to his sweetheart is placed in many distressing circumstances by her very ambitious and domineering old mother. The young lady's father, a very resigned and submissive old gentleman, is in sympathy with the young American, but because of the mother's decided preference for the Count as her daughter's suitor he dares not offer any suggestion that may be construed as detrimental to the Count's courtship. The lover and his sweetheart make many attempts to see each other, but each time they are detected and their plans are thwarted. The maid, because of her persistence in assisting the young lady and her lover, is discharged. The mother then advertises for another maid, and the lover seeing the advertisement in the paper, costumes himself as such. Then, with his chum ensconced in a newly acquired wicker trunk, he makes his way to his sweetheart's home, where he is given the desired position of the maid. Losing no time in executing his plans, he discloses his identity to his sweetheart who immediately expresses her approbation. She is put in the wicker trunk and the lover, simulating drunkenness, creates a disturbance which causes his dismissal. As soon as the lover and the trunk containing his sweetheart are in the hall the chum who has secreted himself behind the screen, locks the family in the room. The lover and his sweetheart repair to the floor below where they meet the minister whom the Count had caused to be present for his own marriage, and realizing that they need go no further, they are married on the spot. The Count, the mother and the father appear on the scene just as the marriage ceremony is completed, the Count and the mother are so chagrined and crestfallen that they leave the room in disgust, the father remains behind rejoicing over the lovers' triumph.
- This early docudrama shows Auburn Prison and recreates the electrocution of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley of the United States. Some versions offer additional footage at the beginning which shows McKinley on the day of his assassination followed by scenes from his funeral.
- Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of the famous fairy tale story of Jack and his magic beanstalk. Borrowing on cinematographic methods reminiscent of 'Georges Melies', Porter uses animation, double exposure, and trick photography to illustrate the fairy's apparitions, Jack's dream, and the fast growing beanstalk.
- A staging of Jesus' passion.
- "Company F, 1st Ohio Volunteers, initiating a new man. Nineteen times he bounces in the blanket, and each toss is funnier than the last one."
- Two men wearing boxing gloves prepare to spar in the Edison Company studio.
- Customer gets a lightning-fast shave.
- Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns.
- An Edison company worker makes large gestures in front of a Kinetoscope to test the new camera system.
- In front of a flour mill, two men fight. One is the miller, and he's swinging a bag of flour in the scuffle. The other is a chimney sweep, and he's swinging what may be a bag of flour, but when it breaks open, it's clearly something else. Well into the havoc, spectators gather and give chase to the flour-covered sweep and the "well-sooted" miller.
- A charming representation of the Mikado dance by three beautiful Japanese ladies in full costume. Very effective when colored. (from the Edison Catalog)
- A poor young girl tries to sell matches in a snowstorm. After being robbed by bullies, she lights matches which illuminate visions of a far happier Christmas than the one she faces.
- This is the lady whose graceful interpretations of the poetry of motion has made this dance so popular of recent years. - From 'The Phonoscope' (1899)
- Two members of a vigilante group known as 'The White Caps' post a warning sign on a man's home. When the man comes home, he tears down the sign, and then proceeds to abuse his wife both verbally and physically. As soon as she can get away from him, the wife leaves home with her child to find a place of refuge. When the vigilantes find out about this, they arm themselves with rifles and immediately go to confront the abusive husband.
- It's December 24th, and 'Santa Claus' is busy feeding his reindeer and finishing up the toys that he will soon deliver. Meanwhile, the children in a large family hang their stockings over the fireplace, and then are put to bed. But the restless children cannot sleep, and they soon start a lively pillow fight. Back at his workshop, Santa loads up everything and begins his journey.
- A great feature of the Pan-American Exposition, as unanimously conceded by all visitors, was the electric illumination of the Exposition grounds at night. After a great deal of experimenting and patience, we succeeded in securing an excellent picture of the buildings at the Pan-American as they appeared when lighted up at night. All the buildings from the Temple of Music to the Electric Tower are shown, including the Electric Tower itself. The emotional and sensational effects were also secured by starting the panoramic view by daylight and revolving the camera until the Electric Tower forms the center of the field of the lens. Our camera was then stopped and the position held until night, when we photographed the coming up of the lights, an event which was deemed by all to be a great emotional climax to the Pan-American Exposition. Immediately the lights are burning to their fullest brilliancy, the camera is againt set in motion and revolved until the Temple of Music is reached. The motion is then reversed and the camera goes back until it rests on the Electric Tower, thus supplying the climax to the picture. The great searchlights of the Tower are being worked during the entire time the picture is being exposed, and the effect is startling. This picture is pronounced by the photographic profession to be a marvel of photography.
- We are first introduced to an old-fashioned New England kitchen and dining-room combined, where a few simple country folks have gathered to give their thanks to God for all the blessings that have been bestowed upon them. Our interest is centered mostly around the mother of the household and her son, who are plain, simple New England folks. The son soon longs for a broader field for his ambition than the country village can give, and so, one day, starts for the city. Eight years glide by and the simple farm boy has grown to manhood, and success has reached him from every side, while away back in New England we see that the little mother is just the same, a little older, a little grayer. A feverish anxiety is in her movements as she takes a big, old-fashioned pie from the oven. It is for her boy. He is coming home to spend Thanksgiving with her for the first time in ten years. A knock is heard at the door and the rural postmaster hands the dear old lady a letter. It is from her son. She tears open the letter. The smile fades from her lips. A check drops from the letter unheeded, for in that letter is a heartache; her boy is not coming home on Thanksgiving Day. As she takes his picture from the worn old album and looks at it sadly part of the room fades, and we see the boy and the other woman, who loves him too. A moment of suspense, eyes that look into eyes, a catch of the breath, and as he clasps his sweetheart in his arms and presses the first long kiss of love upon her lips, we see the dear old mother sadly kissing the picture of her boy. New England is a long way from the great city where her boy lives, but she decides to go to him on Thanksgiving Day and surprise him. As she enters his house she does not know that a Thanksgiving dinner party is to be held, that her boy's sweetheart will be there in all her grandeur, that each guest will be dressed in the height of fashion. She does not realize that her old, worn-out clothes of the country will be out of place in these surroundings. She only knows that she is going to see her boy; but the sad awakening comes when she finds herself upstairs in a neatly furnished room and the butler placing a tray of food before her. Her boy is ashamed of her, and she is to eat her Thanksgiving dinner alone. What would his sweetheart, a lady of fashion, think of her, his mother, if she saw her in this old-fashioned attire? What? Wait and you shall see. A knock at the door. A fair young girl enters, a rustle of silk and satins. "Ah, I beg your pardon, but I thought this is where the butler said I was to remove my cloak." She sees a huge, old-fashioned pie on the dresser, a note beside it, and the words "my boy" and "your mother" catch her eye. There is a cry of joy, and the dear old lady is locked close in soft young arms. That's what she thinks of his mother. She is his mother; that's all she cares to know. Amid sobs and smiles the girl learns the truth, and one can imagine the shame upon the boy's face when he enters the room a few moments later and finds mother and sweetheart gaily eating their Thanksgiving dinner together. Soon all is forgiven and forgotten, and this sweet, simple story closes with the dear old lady saying thanksgiving at the head of her son's table.
- A vignette of a barroom/liquor-store in the West, no plot per se. However this short is usually regarded as the first "Western" in the sense that it depicts a western scene.