From The UK/England: How It Feels To Be Run Over (1900)

Early British filmmaker Cecil Hepworth, creator of Hepworth Mfg. Co., created the trick short by putting a camera directly in the path of the on coming car.

From France: A Trip To The Moon (1902)

It is United Nations Day, and over at the Scare Me On Fridays blog spot we are celebrating with a Countdown To Halloween theme of scary films from different countries, so I thought it would be fun to track that here.  First up is France, and more Melies.  The is perhaps his most famous film!  I've even seen tattoos of the moon are arms and backs!  At over 10 minutes long, this was considered a wonder of modern cinema when it debuted.  Happy Halloween!  Happy UN Day.

Esmerelda (1905)

This is the very first film of the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  It was released in 1905 and is now completely lost (please check your attics!).  Below is nice You Tube clip someone put together of surviving production stills.

The Mystery Of The Missing Jewel Casket (1905)

An odd little newsreel from 1905.  Newsreels were the "television" of the silent era.

The Story Of The Kelly Gang (1906) Portion

It's strange that this is actually the world's first feature film; strange because it's Australian.  Moving pictures were arguably invented in the US, but countries like France and England were very, very quick to catch on.  However, it was a country that was considered backward to an extreme degree by the rest of the world who gave us the first full length movie; and Australia had only been an actual country for 5 years!  The above is just a portion of the feature, but it's pretty action packed.  Based, of course, on the famous Ned Kelly of the outback; this is the first film ever made about him.  It was remade in 1920.  Happy Labour Day Australia!

An Excursion To The Moon (1908)

Over at my Scare Me On Fridays blog we are celebrating the second day of the Countdown to Halloween with a  Science Fiction theme, so here is an early Sci-Fi from Spain.  This is yet another Segundo de Chomon remake of the an earlier Melies original in English A Trip To The Moon (1902).

Countdown To Christmas 4

Yet another Edison Christmas short, but this is one of the company's earliest, dating from 1905.  Of all of Edwin S. Porter's directed holiday shorts, I tend to favor his earliest work.  They just have a glint of silvery charm to them.

Countdown To Christmas Day 2

A Winter Straw Ride (1906)

Another Edison holiday short, this was photographed and directed by one of motion pictures very first director's Edwin S. Porter.  It's only 7 minutes long, so give it a look.  Happy Holidays!

The ? Motorist (1906)

Also known as "The Made Motorist" it is listed on the catalogs of Science Fiction films.  It is certainly a hilarious little fantasy, that showcases some early slipstick in the Keystone Kops vein.

The Hilarious Posters (1907)

The Impossible Voyage (1904)

This embed if from the good folks over at Internet Archive.  It looks strangely out sized in the post, but it does play; it's probably best viewed in full screen.  This is another one Melies trick movies.  He really had a strange obsession with Jules Vern and H. G. Wells!

A Trip To The Moon (1902)

This is the original Le voyage dans la lune or The Trip to the Moon fro 1902 by cinematic pioneer of the "trick film" Georges Melies.  Happy Halloween!