Grand Canyon Film Show

Window(en)

The moving camera shapes the screen image with great purposefulness, using the frame of a window as fulcrum upon which to wheel about the exterior scene. The zoom lens rips, pulling depth planes apart and slapping them together, contracting and expanding in concurrence with camera movements to impart a terrific apparent-motion to the complex of the object-forms pictured on the horizontal-vertical screen, its axis steadied by the audience's sense of gravity. The camera's movements in being transferred to objects tend also to be greatly magnified (instead of the camera the adjacent building turns). About four years of studying the window-complex preceded the afternoon of actual shooting (a true instance of cinematic action-painting). The film exists as it came out of the camera barring one mechanically necessary mid-reel splice

The Carrot Caterpillar(fr)

The carrot caterpillar hides among and feeds on the leafy foliage in carrot fields. A man demonstrates how difficult it is to detect and remove them from the carrot plants. They propel themselves with their six feet and twelve suction cups. To ward off enemies, they display two horns which secrete a malodorous liquid. Before the chrysalis stage of their development, they attach themselves to a surface and two days later burst from their shell. After spending the winter as a chrysalis, they emerge as swallowtail butterflies. Once they have bathed their wings in dew and dried off, they are ready to fly. (Library of Congress)

Fire and Flames at Luna Park, Coney Island (An Attraction at Coney Island)(en)

A fire fighting demonstration in Luna Park, Coney Island. on August 15, 1904.

Spirochoeta pallida (de la syphilis)(fr)

Jean Comandon, pioneer of microcinematography, recorded this time-lapse film in c. 1910, using a ultramicroscope. The film show living spiral shaped syphilis bacteria moving among red blood cells of frog. Notice the back-and-forth movement, characterizing the disease-causing form. (Wikipedia)

Ju-Jitsu(en)

Many demonstrations of the art of Jiu Jitsu are given, and as evidence that this is not a passing fad intended only for the amusement of the public there is illustrated in very thrilling manner how several footpads follow two girls and then in a deserted section of the road make an attack, which is successfully foiled and the perpetrators taken into custody. Splendid action and good photographic quality. (Gaumont catalogue)

Comment se fait le fromage de Hollande(en)

Documentary about making cheese in the Netherlands.

Touaregs in Their Country(fr)

“The barbaric negro inhabitants of an African village are shown in their various forms of activity, the first view being a photograph of a number of children of all sizes, shapes and degrees of African beauty. Following this is a match between two giant negro wrestlers, who first fence with slicks and then grapple with each other. The start of a caravan is next pictured, the handling of the huge camels being well demonstrated. A British courier next comes into view and the African, presumably sheiks, attack him. A short sham fight takes place, and he escapes. Now a religious procession of natives is shown, with their tom-toms and curious devices for making curious music. The last is a photo of a comical looking African infant playing with a kitten.” (Moving Picture World)

Belfast, exercices de sauvetage(fr)

Belfast firefighters demonstrate a ladder.

København Paa Kryds Og Tværs(da)

A view of Copenhagen primarily from the perspective of a sea traveler.

Kong Haakon VII's Ankomst Til København(da)

The arrival of the Norwegian king in Copenhagen is documented in this early short film.

Kong Frederik VIII's første Kongerevue(da)

The first military revue of King Frederik VIII is captured on film.

The Mysterious Man(fr)

Fox Terriers and Rats(fr)

Fox terriers kill rats in an aviary while excited spectators watch on.

Opening of the Kiel Canal(en)

The opening of the Kiel Canal in Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 20 June 1895.

Dismissal from Mass in Ljutomer(sl)

1905 short film showing people walking down a Ljutomer street after mass.

Decease(ru)

Spring comes every year and brings us hope for recovery and development. But time is inexorable and fleeting. Not for everyone will come next spring ...

Istanbul, Weltstadt am Goldenen Horn(de)

A tour of Istanbul in all its glory. All the sights, such as the Hagia Sophia, but also the small details are shown.

Brighton Street Scene(en)

Lost film from 1888, directed by William Friese-Greene.

Terre magellaniche(es)

The film Terre Magellaniche represents the fruit of multiple and risky trips that the explorer Alberto M. De Agostini made in the Patagonian mountain range and in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Executed with rare mastery and exquisite artistic sense, the film shows the explorer in the labyrinth of Patagonian channels, penetrating the deep fjords between large masses of floating ice of curious shapes, coming from the immense glaciers that descend from the Cordillera and bathe its frontal walls on the waters of the sea. Transported to regions of extraordinary beauty, situated in front of gigantic mountains, from which majestic waterfalls rush, the viewer experiences the illusion of finding themselves in a mysterious kingdom of dream and enchantment.

The Ascent of the Great Pyramid of Giza by Prince Leopold III(fr)

During his 1923 visit to Cairo, Prince Leopold III of Belgium climbed the Cheops pyramid. The film was shot by Tullio Chiarini, Italian photographer, cinematographer and correspondent in Cairo and Alexandria.