Documentary footage showing the alligator in several stages of growth, from babyhood to a ripe old age; a film taken at an alligator farm in California. In early 1913 as Thanhouser staff and crews were setting up a facility in Los Angeles, cameraman Carl Louis Gregory was taking documentary footage, from which four “split reel” short subjects were created: A MILLION BIRDS, filmed at California pigeon and ostrich farms; LOS ANGELES THE BEAUTIFUL (two different version with the same title), showing scenic attractions; and SEVEN AGES OF AN ALLIGATOR, filmed at an alligator farm. Released together, HIS UNCLE'S WIVES and SEVEN AGES OF AN ALLIGATOR filled up one 1,000-foot “split reel.” (Fandor)
1913-02-02
5
This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.
A commissioned film for Schweizerischer Werkbund (SWB), Die neue Wohnung was produced for the Basel architectural and interior design exhibition, WOBA, to demonstrate innovative aspects of modern architecture and highlight their differences from the event’s highly conservative approach. Despite its ad campaign roots, Richter's touch is not absent; The surviving version, aimed at a "bourgeois" Swiss public, presents decluttered, functional architecture and decor as superior to the traditional and luxurious "ancient" ways of living.
Two part biography of Greta Garbo - 1. The Temptress 2. The Clown. Reminiscences of her early life in Stockholm, with excerpts from her films. Narrated by Bibi Andersson.
Ballroom dancers Veloz and Yolanda perform the various dance fads of the first half of the twentieth century.
This short is one of Paramount's "Popular Science" series (number L6-5, or the fifth one of the 1946-47 production season) and begins by showing moon rockets, weighing 30 tons, a flight in the ionosphere, with mounted color cameras recording pictures hundreds of miles above the earth. Coming back to earth, it discourses on modern bathroom fixtures, and then demonstrates a one-man hay-bailer.
Danish documentary filmed in Greenland. Shows a lot of Greenlanders, skiing, hunting for birds, seals and whales, and ice fishing. Filmed by Dr. Leif Folke.
This bicycle-safety film shows children what can happen when bicycles are driven carelessly and recklessly.
A new film compiled from the BFI National Archive's unparalleled holdings of early films of China, features films from 1900-48 filmed across China. The cinematic journey of Around China with a Movie Camera contains many films which may never have been seen in China, or at the very least not for over 70 years. These travelogues, newsreels and home movies were made by a diverse group of British and French filmmakers, some professionals, but mainly enthusiastic amateurs, including intrepid tourists, colonial-era expatriates and Christian missionaries.
City of Wax is a 1934 American short documentary film produced by Horace and Stacy Woodard about the life of a bee. It won the Oscar at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935 for Best Short Subject (Novelty). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 2007.
Raising angora rabbits for wool; new marine navigation and safety technology; kitchen gadgets; developing new rose varieties.
Jean Painlevé is interested here, with the help of Eli Lotar, in crabs and shrimps. He is particularly interested in detailing their anatomy and observing their mating and fighting behavior.
A film about the expansion of the Central Line beyond Stratford.
Time Stood Still is a 1956 Warner Brothers Scope Gem travelogue, filmed the previous year in Dinkelsbühl, and presented in the wide-screen format of CinemaScope, directed by André de la Varre. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 29th Academy Awards.
The opening of the Kiel Canal in Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 20 June 1895.
The film uses stop-frame animation to create maps on the screen, and showed the then-current military situation in the Dardanelles, using various maps to assist understanding. Small cardboard cut-outs show the deployment of men and ships. Intertitles explain tactics, and shelling explosions are illustrated by clouds of cotton wool.
In 1926, Buster Keaton was at the peak of his glory and wealth. By 1933, he had reached rock bottom. How, in the space of a few years, did this uncontested genius of silent films, go from the status of being a widely-worshipped star to an alcoholic and solitary fallen idol? With a spotlight on the 7 years during which his life changed, using extracts of Keaton’s films as magnifying mirrors, the documentary recounts the dramatic life of this creative genius and the Hollywood studios.
Kathleen Madigan drops in on Detroit to deliver material derived from time spent with her Irish Catholic Midwest family, eating random pills out of her mother's purse, touring Afghanistan, and her love of John Denver and the Lunesta butterfly.
A popular and beautiful politician plans to expose the evil-doings of a multinational corporation. Hoping to silence her, the corporation's top executives decide to hire the most incompetent detective they can find to act as her bodyguard.
Manga artist Gengo Odaka lands a job with the World Children's Land amusement park only to become suspicious of the organization when a garbled message is discovered on tapes. As Gengo and his team investigate, Godzilla and Anguirus quickly decipher the message and begin their own plan of action.
Rocky, Colt and TumTum must battle an evil wealthy toxic waste dumper in order to save a local Indian tribe and their friend Joe. The 3 Ninjas must help find Joe's father and find a secret disk that contains evidence that could stop the toxic landfill that is destroying the Indian community. However the town is owned by the rich man and he controls the police and even the mayor. They must fight a motorcycle gang and renegade cowboys in this non-stop ninja adventure.
Angela, the hostess from hell, summons her army of teen demons when teenagers from St. Rita's High School decide to party at the haunted Hull House on Halloween.
The Jester returns in this sequel short film to continue to spread his Halloween cheer.
A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.
Our favourite police men are called together to deal with a gang who rob banks and jewelers. Using their various talents as well as their extraordinary luck, the crooks stand no chance against our men and women in blue.
One day, Tenchi disappears in the forest near his house. Six months later, Ayeka and Ryoko locate Tenchi living in a city, but with a mysterious woman. What's more, Tenchi appears to have aged several years. Whenever Ayeka and Ryoko catch up to him, he disappears into thin air, apparently existing in a fabricated alternate dimension where he has no knowledge of his past.
A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Someone from another planet crashed on Earth and evil is chasing him, and then love appears, and it defeats evil through an amulet.
4 TV Episodes Spectacle!
Get ready for a wildly diverse, star-studded trilogy about life in the big city. One of the most-talked about films in years, New York Stories features the creative collaboration of three of America's most popular directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, and Woody Allen.
After his young lover, Gitone, leaves him for another man, Encolpio decides to kill himself, but a sudden earthquake destroys his home before he has a chance to do so. Now wandering around Rome in the time of Nero, Encolpio encounters one bizarre and surreal scene after another.
Four men decided to enter in the oldest Fight Club of the History, The Florentine Football tournament. A father and son, a black guy, an old champion and outsider clerk will enter in an arena of the time to win their fears, to go over their limits, to be heroes for a day.
This Ivete Sangalo concert at Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracanã Stadium, and the subsequent DVD/CD releases, constituted the year's main event in Brazilian pop music. Sangalo rose to fame with the axé band Banda Eva, and since 1999 has embarked on an unstoppable solo career, making her the undisputed queen of pop in Brazil in terms of sales and popularity, as well as gathering countless industry and society awards. Accordingly, Sangalo put on a show at the Maracanã that should leave no one envious of the megaconcerts offered in Rio by Madonna, Michael Jackson, and the Rolling Stones. Alternating some of her many hits with new songs or new versions of old material, Sangalo burns through the set with her characteristic enthusiasm and infectious star magnetism, incessantly cheered on by an adoring audience of 55,000. The album has sold over 800,000 copies in Brazil (being certified Diamond), and features the single "Deixo". Recorded on December 16, 2006.
A stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.
One by one, with a sweet but inexorable rate, Ugo's colleagues, go to a better life. When Ugo is attending at one of the innumerable funerals, he and the priest remain involved in an accident. The doctor says that Ugo as only one week left to live
Red's peaceful morning routine is interrupted by a pesky visitor.