The best movies 1896

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...

“The watchful father disturbs a dream of bliss, and the bucolic lover is taught a lesson. He made a great hit.” (Edison film catalog)

In a medieval castle, a dark magician thought to be Mephistopheles conjures up a series of bizarre creatures and events in order to torment a pair of...

A man has a fantastical nightmare involving, among other things, a grinning malevolent moon.

A newlywed couple in front of their wedding-bed after their wedding. The woman undresses in front of her husband. A French erotic short film...

The Alhambra Girls perform a dance at Alhambra Theatre, London. Lost.

Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, on horseback, parade in front of the cheering crowd, during the inauguration ceremony of William I's monument in Breslau,...

The German infantry parades in front of Nicholas II and Wilhelm II.

Footage of the visit of Tsar Nicholas II to Paris, shot with the Cinématographe Joly-Normandin

Part of a series of military views produced by Eugène Pirou

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs her popular serpentine dance routine. She twirls around, and as she does so, she uses her long skirts to create a...

The Czar in France - Procession of the troops.

A man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.

Félicien Trewey swirls a large white ribbon around him.

Artist draws Thomas Edison.

The first Dutch fictional film. This very short silent slapstick comedy featured famous Dutch comedians Lion Solser and Piet Hesse. Considered lost.

Rumored to be shot by Georges Demenÿ.

A fellow in a wide-brimmed hat, with a willowy stick for a rod and a baited hook, sits down on a plank hanging over a bridge above a stream. He...

Georges Méliès makes a woman disappear, then reappear.

On the terrace of a villa, a violinist, two pianists and a singer are playing, until they are interrupted by a false note.

Two men have a contest to see which one can be the first to eat a large slice of watermelon.

A street scene from Spain.

A clip by Gabriel Veyre showing horses galloping at a Mexican festival.

Part of a documentary-type projections made in Argentina by Federico Figner.