From Sweden: In The Garden (1912)

In The Garden a Swedish silent dating from 1912 was known for two rather strange things  One is that is was considered utterly lost, until a copy was found in the US in the late 1970's.  Two, it was the first film ever banned in Sweden. (A third strange bit is that I can post a copy of it here from You Tube). 

From Germany: The Adventures Of Prince Achmed (1926) & Nosferatu (1922) Trailer

The Adventures Of Prince Achmed is a German animated feature length fantasy adventure film from 1926; it features black etchings against brilliant hued background!

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 Russia: Aelita (1924)

This is one the most famous silent science fiction films from the silent era.  It is also one of the most innovative silent films produced in The Soviet Union, most Soviet era silents are heavy on propaganda--so much so that there exists a whole sub-genre of silent movies for just that subject.  This is based on the Tolstoy novel of the same name.

From Japan: Bara no Konrei (2002)

This is truly a "wierd" one!  A modern silent film from Japan that has a Dracula plot!

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.

The Massacre (1912)

This is a western melodrama of war and revenge by directorial innovator and infamous director D. W. Griffith that is surprisingly sympathetic to the Indian predicament.  Which is actually not all the unusual for the earliest westerns made.  It starts out with a peaceful Indian village being attacked, and is pretty unrelenting about showing the violence of the ensuing deaths.  This then becomes a reason for revenge, where in the surviving native attack a covered wagon train heading west through their territory.  The year of this film is in some dispute, but most hard core Griffith scholars insist that it dates from 1912, not 1913 or 1914, however the reason for this dispute could differ from what can be called a premiere.  Since most film's year date is set by it's first public showing is, in the earlier days of cinema, what constituted a "public premier" really was.  

Stanley Kubrick's Favorite Silent Film: Metropolis

Amongst the many, many films listed by the late great director Stanley Kubrick as being favorites of his, influential on his work, Metropolis was the only silent film that he consistently talked about.  This is the 2001 restored version with the original music.  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Fantomas: Al Ombre dela Guillotine (1913)

Part of a crime serial of the 1910's out of France.  There were 5 episodes total in the years 1913 and 1914 and all were directed by Louis Feuillade who also directed the crime serial Les Vampires. Each "episode" was just little shy of 55 minutes.

Edited Silent Crazy Car Films

I found this on the internet while looking for early films that feature racing cars.  It is completely insane...and hilarious.  Good editing job.