Ferdinand Zecca

The extraordinary life of cinema pioneer Segundo de Chomón.

Nicole Védrès' chronicle of Paris from 1900 to 1914 is brought to life through the use of original material, all authentic, secured...

A man flies his plane "Fend l'Air" over Paris.

A trick film using the reverse effect.

A convicted criminal dreams about his past the night before his execution.

A drunk staggers into his apartment and falls asleep. He dreams he climbs to the top of a building and flies to the moon, then falls back to earth....

A retired Nintendo champion comes to terms with his broken Nintendo Entertainment System in Louisville, Kentucky in 2005.

A magician performs tricks with a chicken and eggs.

A hapless man tries to get undressed only to find himself magically layered in even more clothes.

Charles Prince, his gift of a posy spurned in favor of a rival's expensive ring, goes to enlist in the Balkan Wars. Sort of. That is, he goes to...

To the modern viewer, it may seem peculiar that there are several movies in which a man sneaks a kiss off a young woman in a darkened railway car,...

With family connections to some famous French artists, writers, and musicians of the time, Sacha Guitry decided to film the individuals in action, to...

This is a compact telling of the Cinderella fairy tale and the film is elaborately staged.

Mude movie from France

Short film by Pathé frères released in 1905

A man flies his plane "Fend l'Air" over Paris.

Pathé film number 380, also known as "What Happened to the Inquisitive Janitor" (US) and "Peeping Tom" (UK). It should not be confused with...

A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.

Silent film

A policeman spots a dog stealing a piece of meat from a butcher's shop, and gives chase. Soon several more policemen have joined the pursuit. But the...

Three little chimney-sweepers fall down at the door of a farmhouse exhausted with fatigue and cold when the snow is falling. The most courageous of...

The story of Jesus Christ, from the proclamation of His Nativity to His Ascension into heaven. Impressive staging and beautiful hand-coloring...

An early hand-tinted adaptation of Ali Baba.

A woman loses her only child. She turns to drink and begins to hallucinate an image of her beloved child.

Using a blue tint to set the scene under the sea, this is a short, surprisingly violent film where two divers fight to the death with axes over some...

An oppressive droning score makes this rendering of the Faust legend quite disturbing to watch. The film itself consists of a number of impressive...

A convicted criminal dreams about his past the night before his execution.

A happy family is brought to ruin when the father starts drinking.

A talented youth has compounded a wonderful fluid, a little of which he applies to the mirror in his room, and when he looks into it his image comes...

A well-dressed, middle-aged man is enjoying a drink at a table with a pretty young woman. He flirts with her, and she seems not to mind his...

Apparently inspired by the antics of Harry Houdini, Slippery Jim opens in the office of a police commissioner to whom a rather cocky villain is...

A drunk staggers into his apartment and falls asleep. He dreams he climbs to the top of a building and flies to the moon, then falls back to earth....

Captivated by a vision of beckoning women, a man dives into the ocean, and soon finds himself walking on the ocean floor. After encountering numerous...

The opening of this remarkable and mysterious film brings into view a scene in a parlor, with two servants discussing the easiest way to hang four...

A young woman receives a message, and hurriedly leaves home. But the message was a trick to lure her into a trap, where she is assaulted and killed....

At an island penal institution, new prisoners are brought in one-by-one, and introduced to the harsh realities of prison life. They are put in...

A 8-chapter ("tableaux") short film that tells the story of a gambler who ends his life on the guillotine.

An early Pathé version of Don Quixote told in 15 chapters.

A father and son are working in a coal mine. An explosion occurs, which kills the son.

A political quarrel between two men that ends in laughter.

During a strike, several workers are killed in a confrontation. The wife of one of them kills the factory owner. At her trial, the owner's son asks...

A 8-chapter ("tableaux") short film that tells the story of a gambler who ends his life on the guillotine.

On the theater stage, a magician makes appear and disappear his partners

An honest worker is made redundant, but he will solve his problems by marrying the employer's daughter.

An honest worker is made redundant, but he will solve his problems by marrying the employer's daughter.

Jean Clédat, a young sculptor, has fallen in love with Gabrielle Normand, a painter. Jean's father, who expected him to perform his art in his...

Short directed by Henri Andréani and Ferdinand Zecca.

Maxime Vermont tries to get a financial help from his father-in-law, to no avail. Inspired by an idea from a pulp serial, Maxime sets out to kill his...

A group of men with a broken down auto get an assist from a man who can’t walk.

Rendez-vous of Apaches. Bonneteur and pickpocket. Theft at the scramble. Reticle shooter. Shoplifting. Pepper stripper. The coup of Father...

Backward facing camera stunt story of a man coming out of the water.

The wife gets up, runs to the clock and seeing the time, hurriedly awakens her husband. They will miss the train. In their hurry they cannot find...

Stencil-coloured version of Segundo de Chomón's Les roses magiques (1906).

A delightful and typical farce film, ending with the usual Gallic chase.

It is winter and a couple invites an old woman to eat. The old woman then becomes a fairy and makes the spring appears.

A peasant refuses to help a poor old woman to carry a bundle of wood. The old woman transforms to a beautiful fairy seated in a magnificent chariot...

Behind the elderly husband's back, the lovers kiss and go off together. But is he unaware of their actions. No! So she swears that her husband is mad...

In Paris, freed by criminal hands, several barrels roll down an endless slope, dragging everything and everyone in their path.

In this interesting picture we are given a vivid idea of the principal incidents connected with the Dreyfus case, which caused such a stir in...

Two men get into a knife fight, in a Corsican tavern, and one of them kills another and escapes. He takes refuge in his house but escapes when the...

Three young children set up a table, and on the table is placed a miniature stage. The stage curtain opens, a carpet appears, and then the carpet...

Max causes havoc when he joins other skaters on a frozen lake.

A man in a suit and cap stops in front of the display of a bookseller, finds and flips… "Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells! Fascinated by the...

Early silent adaptation of the fairy-tale Puss In Boots.

Segundo de Chomón's remake of Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon.

A thief named Barabbas and Jesus are brought before Pilate, Pilate says Christ innocent. People say "Crucify him and deliver us Barabbas!"

Jesus is brought before him again, Pontius Pilate washes his hands to show that he has no responsibility in the death of this man and hands him over...

An angel appears to Jesus, who comforts him while he is in the garden of olives and is praying for the strength to do the will of the Father.

Jesus enters the temple while the merchants are selling their wares. Jesus overturns the tables of the money lenders by showing them their error.

To fill their jars with water, a group of women gathered around the well. At one point comes Samaria, a woman known for her bad temper. Jesus appears...

Jesus appears, the doctors and sages who were engaged in a discussion listen to him amazed by his words of wisdom.

Jesus is forced to carry the cross along the path, but his weakness causes him to sink under the weight of the cross. Simon of Cyrene helps him, the...

A diver jumps into a body of water-- and then comes right back out! This film should not be confused with Segundo de Chomón's remake "Plongeur...

A trick film using the reverse effect.

Reproduction of the terrible catastrophe which annihilated the town of St. Peter on May 8, 1902.

A magician performs tricks with a chicken and eggs.

This picture describes the well-known biblical story of Samson and Delila. The picture commences with Samson's visit to Gaza, a city of the...

Some naughty scenes from a balcony.

A convicted criminal dreams about his past the night before his execution.

An opium smoker intoxicated by this poison, falls asleep and dreams that he is in prison.

The Clever Baker, shows a not so clever baker baking.

Short film set in ancient Egypt.

“A melodrama of infidelity and violence set in Venice. An old beggar discovers a noble woman's clandestine affair and exposes the couple to the...

An adaptation of the biblical story.

A boy armed with itching powder makes a nuisance of himself, spraying everyone in sight.

Talby is a celebrated tragedian. Among his most fervent admirers is Gaby Sombreuse. One day, Gaby meets her idol in the flesh and is... very...

A man is chased by ten women!

Depicting well-known incidents in the life of Jesus Christ, this milestone of early cinema won world fame, huge audiences and a screen life of...

A tramp who unwittingly starts a fire is chased by a mob of peasants.

The French short film recreates key moments from the Russian revolution of 1905 in Odessa.

A happy family is brought to ruin when the father starts drinking.

A man with some sense of intestinal urgency needs to find the right door at a railroad station. He chooses... the wrong door.

A man kills a wealthy miser - frugal fellow, I like to think - and buries his corpse under a haystack. The murderer is haunted by the ghost of his...

A man walks down to the water's edge, takes off his clothes and prepares to go for a swim.... only to find himself fully clothed. This happens again...

Old gentleman stretches himself on the long seat of a French railway car, after placing numerous bundles in the rack above him, and also in the rack...

To the modern viewer, it may seem peculiar that there are several movies in which a man sneaks a kiss off a young woman in a darkened railway car,...