
01 Mar 1951

Pen Point Percussion
A documentary showing Norman McLaren working on the hand-drawn sound process he uses for his short film, Loops.
Three athletes make their way to wicker baskets that contain a mishmash of wacky costumes. They need to dress up as quickly as they can, and make their way back on the running track.

01 Mar 1951

A documentary showing Norman McLaren working on the hand-drawn sound process he uses for his short film, Loops.

15 Oct 1901

A lad from a butcher shop is carrying a tray laden with a roast or a leg of lamb. A hobo grabs it and runs. The boy gives chase, joined by dogs, as neighbors watch the spectacle. The hobo jumps into a large rain barrel, followed by the dogs.

21 Sep 1901

A comic short in which a tramp attempts to ride a bicycle, tumbling repeatedly before giving up in despair. A skilled rider then takes the stage, performing rope-jumping tricks while balanced on the wheel. Often attributed to British film pioneer R.W. Paul. Although Thomas Edison has sometimes been mistakenly named as director, he was never credited as director on any films.

25 Oct 1926

Gregory La Cava directs this comedy of errors, starring W.C. Fields as a hen-pecked, inebriated inventor who triumphantly creates unbreakable windshield glass while struggling to gain the respect of his social-climbing daughter and nagging wife.

01 Jan 1898

Four men of different ranks play a game of tetherball on a ship's deck.

01 Aug 1901

A jovial looking man is seated nearest the window of a restaurant. He has just finished his meal and the waiter brings a glass of beer, and when he places the glass upon the table, lo, a little sailor boy about six inches high appears from the foam, and climbing down the side of the glass, proceeds to dance a sailor's hornpipe on the table.

01 Aug 1901

An up to date idea and a great picture. The professor sits in his laboratory with his newly invented baby incubator. A mother who is anxious for the growth of her child enters, places her baby in care of the professor, who promptly places it in the incubator. An alcohol lamp is lighted under the apparatus, but the professor evidently gets his machine too hot, for in a few seconds the top is opened and the baby taken out. To the great anger of its mother it has grown about two feet in height and has long hair and a full beard. (Edison Catalog)
01 Aug 1901
Here we present a picture that simply convulses an audience with laughter. The scene opens in the bedroom of a hotel. A traveler appears, evidently a "little worse for wear." After stretching and yawning, he proceeds to disrobe. He throws off his coat and vest, but to his surprise and anguish, he suddenly finds himself clothed in a continental uniform. He throws this off in anger, but immediately a policeman's costume flies on him. This is in turn thrown aside in great rage and he finds himself clothed in a soldier's uniform. At last, thinking himself successful, he makes for the bed and finds a skeleton complacently resting on his pillow. The bed suddenly disappears, leaving him seated on the floor, and great quantities of bed clothes rain down from the ceiling. The picture ends leaving the audience simply convulsed in laughter. (Edison Catalog)

01 Oct 1901

An artist draws the head of a pretty girl, takes the drawing off the paper and places it on a small table, turning the image into the head of a real woman. He then continuous drawing the lady, one body part after the other.

11 Aug 1901

The famous acrobats in the above title appear in a marvellous acrobatic act. There are three barrels arranged on the stage. The boys, blindfolded, stand on opposite sides of the stage, and jump from one barrel into the other until they both land in the same barrel at the same time. They then jump backwards onto the stage over the two barrels. One table is then mounted upon another and the center barrel is placed on top. The brothers still blindfolded jump one each into a barrel and from them to the first to the second table and from the second table into the barrel on top of the second table. They then jump backwards onto the stage. This is pronounced by show people to be the most marvellous acrobatic feat that has ever been introduced. (Edison Catalog)

05 Dec 1902

A Swiss tourist knocks the head off a negro waiter.

18 Jul 1903

A panorama shot of the Norwegian town and harbour of Hammerfest. Believed to be the earliest surviving film of Norway.

01 Jan 1897

No overview found

01 Jan 1897

No overview found

10 Jul 1906

Men expose a fake medium's tricks and take revenge.

06 Jun 2000

A BFI collection of 7 short films from the USA, England and Italy scored for Piano, Guitar and String Quartet.

08 May 1904

A boy pulls a prank on his poor old mother.

10 Aug 1904

A husband rushes for a doctor and his wife has triplets.

07 Sep 1924

There is no love lost between the Red Dog Garage and the Black Cat Garage, two auto repair shops on opposite sides of the street. A big cross-country auto race is announced, and it turns into a no-holds-barred contest as the rival garages go all out to win.

21 Jan 1909

Mr. Jones, since his last escapade, had made strenuous efforts to amend the reputation he had gained in the eyes of the ladies of the Temperance League. But Oh! the ordeal, for such it was, was telling on him, and his pent-up spirits were threatening ebullition, when at last the chance comes. The league arranges to attend a three-days' convention out of town, and when Mrs. Jones departs, Jones sends a note to Smith, telling him to bring the gang, and they would have a "Prayer Meeting," enjoining him not to forget the "fixings." Well, the gang are not long in putting in an appearance, for they feel that every minute's delay is a chunk lost from a golden opportunity for fun.