Horror Movies from the 1900s
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- DirectorEdwin S. PorterMarguerite is seated before the fireplace, Faust standing by her side. Mephistopheles enters and offers his sword to Faust, commanding him to behead the fair Marguerite. Faust refuses, whereupon Mephistopheles draws the sword across the throat of the lady and she suddenly disappears and Faust is seated in her place.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA Chinese magician turns himself into a huge bat.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCharles ManleyAnother adventure involving the recurring character from silent era Uncle Josh, one of the first characters to have film sequels of his own. This episode involves a haunted hotel where a ghost keeps slapping Uncle Josh and the manager, causing a great deal confusion between both men and delivering funny situations to the audience.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCharles ManleyPoor Uncle Josh is trying to get to sleep, but being constantly bedeviled by a fellow in red long underwear with horns. A short early trick editing film using a stationary camera.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterThe professor shows his power to Mephisto by mysteriously placing a young lady in a swing. Mephisto then shows his power by making the young lady disappear from the swing, to the surprise of the professor. The professor makes another mystic pass and produces a second young lady then in the swing, and also a skeleton.
- In this picture some very remarkable effects are obtained by the reversal of the motion of the negative. A man comes home, somewhat under the influence of liquor, and starts to remove his outer clothes. As fast as he removes each article and throws it from him, it immediately flies back, and when he is completely bewildered by this weird proceeding, His Satanic Majesty suddenly appears, and the man collapses.
- DirectorArthur MarvinA huge fly is bothering an old man, who is trying to take a nap. The old man, after standing the torment as long as he can, jumps up and taking a shot-gun, fires at the fly and blows it to pieces, then goes back to bed to sleep in peace.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsJehanne d'AlcyBleuette BernonA young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothAn old proprietor is startled by the sudden appearance of a skull. Just as he draws back from the uncanny object, the doors of a mediaeval wardrobe fly back and a hand prods him with a sword. He turns to confront his assailant when it vanishes, and at the same instant the skull flies to the other end of the room. He clutches at the skull, when it turns into the half form of a girl from the waist up, suspended in mid-air. As he gazes in amusement, the other half of the girl, fully dressed from her waist down, walks across the room, and the two halves of the figure join, making a girl complete. In an amorous fashion the old man folds his arms around the girl's waist with the intention of stealing a kiss, but the girl immediately changes into an old woman, who grins in evident delight at the old man's discomfort. In great anger he throws her into the wardrobe and locks the door. Unseen by him, the woman has again become a girl. A great effect is here produced. Through the doors, which are solid and closed, the form of the girl appears through the woodwork. Hastily opening the door, the old man is then confronted by an Egyptian mummy. Other strange things happen. As the pawnbroker flies from the room a large and grotesque head arises from the smoke and slowly advances toward the spectators. Larger and larger the head grows until it fills the entire picture, and appears as though it would swallow the whole audience. A most laughable and mystifying scene.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magnificent Venetian oratory. On the left a large bay window through which may be seen the Grand Canal of the city of Venice. In the centre a colonnade and a hemicycle; to the right is a statue of the Madonna. At the beginning of the scene Romeo in his gondola sings to Juliet a sentimental song, then goes away. Hardly has he departed when the colonnade falls to pieces, disclosing the devil. Juliet, frightened, runs to the window and calls Romeo. The latter attempts to enter and protect his fiancée, but at a gesture from the devil the window is instantly covered with a grating and Romeo makes frantic efforts to break it. The devil begins to dance a wild dance before Juliet, who is beside herself from terror. The devil gradually becomes the size of a giant (a novel effect). Juliet implores the statue of Madonna, which becomes animated, descends from its pedestal, and stretching out its arms orders the devil to disappear. The devil grows smaller and smaller and finally becomes a tiny dwarf, then he is lost in space. The window resumes its first form and Romeo embraces his beloved, with the benediction of the Virgin.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThe setting of this fantastic scene represents the hall of an old chateau in which a miser has locked up seven large bags containing his wealth. Satan, who has made his way into the chateau, puts the seven bags in a strong box, and makes with his hands some cabalistic motions. The miser comes into the hall and is greatly astonished to find his fortune missing. He opens the coffer and immediately the bags leap out. He gathers them up and puts them back into the coffer. When he opens it again he finds that they have been transformed into seven young girls, who rush out and chase after him, beating him unmercifully. They shut him up in the coffer from which his gold has vanished. The miser pushes open the lid of the coffer, and to his profound despair finds that both young girls and money have disappeared. (This view is most sensational in its mysterious scenes.)
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaAn old woman begs help from a local. When he refuses she reveals herself to be a fairy and torments him.
- DirectorDicky WinslowStarsA.W. FitzgeraldMrs. FitzgeraldFive scenes: Maria's disguise, the murder, the dream, the arrest, the condemned cell.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAgainst a moonlit Egyptian backdrop duly encompassing the Sphinx, a narrator explains how a prince hires a mystic to bring back his beloved late wife.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo demons throw helpless captives into a boiling cauldron, and then try to summon forth their spirits.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDeep into a vast cavern of the pitch-black inferno, a couple of professional dancers demonstrate the cakewalk that is currently so much in vogue, and now, everyone in the once-gloomy underworld is doing the crazy dance. Who is the best?
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsScenes. 1. The Route to the Depths of Perdition (a Dazzingly Sensational New Effect.) 2. The Fantastical Ride. 3. The Gloomy Pass. 4. The Stream. 5. The Entrance to the Lower Regions. 6. The Marvelous Grottoes (tableau with six dissolving Scenes.) 7. The Crystal Stalactites 8. The Devil's Hole 9. The Ice Cavern. 10. The Goddesses of Antiquity (a Superb Fantastical Ballet in a Snowstorm.) 11. The Subterranean Cascade (a New Trick with Apparition in a Waterfall.) 12. The Nymphs of the Underworld.--The Seven Headed Hydra--The Demons--The Struggle of Water with Fire (a big Novelty.) 13. The Descent to Satan's Domain (a clever trick now first shown.) 14. The Furnace. 15. The Triumph of Mephistopheles.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDenied a handout, a witch exacts vengeance by cursing the village well.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAlone in his room at an inn, a lustful old man is haunted by spirits.
- DirectorAlice GuyA re-telling of the classic tale of Faust in all of two minutes by French filmmaker Alice Guy (later known as Alice Guy-Blaché).
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA cook has his hands full with three mischievous devils, who pop in and out of his kitchen.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsMlle. BodsonGeorges MélièsAn executioner attempts to burn a woman at the stake but his victim comes back as an angel and gives him what he deserves.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJeanne CalvièreGeorges MélièsOld and burdened Faust sells his soul to the Devil for the exchange of youth and pleasures. He seduces Marguerite and is finally condemned to hell.
- DirectorPercy StowDuring a game of hide and seek a bride hides in a chest and is found 30 years later.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorGaston VelleIn a cavern amidst the fires of hell, Satan creates the eternal flames while performing contortions. He evokes souls of the damned, and women dance nude in front of them. Satan breaks the spell and returns his victims to the flames.
- DirectorLucien NonguetStarsFernand Rivers1- Prison. The prisons, or rather the dungeons, were deep underground passages, real tombs more than thirty feet underground. The unfortunate people, condemned to inhabit these places, six to eight in number, were lying on the damp ground in a stale atmosphere; they were deprived of clothes and shivering. Among these unfortunate people, women and children; how touching are these children who play and laugh alongside pain and death. Every day the executioners came to collect a few new victims to bring them before the court where they were led with lashes. 2- The torture gallery. In the middle of a vast rotunda, in a deep vault, is the chamber of torment, from the walls hang instruments of torture; there are easels, iron boots, nails of enormous size, ropes of all sizes. We descend into this infernal place via a multitude of small, winding staircases. The grand inquisitor makes his entrance followed by the apostolic notary and the familiars of the Holy Office, in accordance with article 18 of the code of the Inquisition which required that these two characters were always present to record the declarations of the accused. After a few summary executions such as the torture of the whip which was applied to any unfortunate person, without distinction of age or sex who made some groan heard, a heretic was locked up in the Nuremberg wardrobe, an iron box, lined internally with spikes. which penetrated all parts of the body of the victim who was locked there. Another patient is lying on a wooden bench, his feet caught in a sort of straitjacket, his hands tied to the foot of the bench in such a way as to bring the body back as if folded in on itself, so that it is impossible for him to move. make the slightest movement. A blazing brazier is then placed under the patient's feet and they are coated with oil. The executioner passes them with a hot iron, the action of the fire, excited by the presence of these fatty substances, becomes in a few minutes so penetrating that the skin splits, the flesh contracts and withdraws, leaving the nerves, bones exposed. tendons and bones. At a sign from the Grand Inquisitor, the executioners bring the accused stripped of his clothes. They want to make him confess to a crime he never committed; upon his refusal, the masked men seize the unfortunate man, tie his hands behind his back, then, grabbing the end of the rope which hangs above his head, tie it to his feet and kidnap the patient until at the height of the vault. After which, they tied a heavy stone to his hands. 3. The torture bench. The patient lies on a gutter-shaped bench, just wide enough to accommodate him and arranged so that the head is lower than the feet. At this moment, the torturers violently turn a wooden tourniquet which tightens the ropes to which the victim is bound. They insert a funnel into his mouth and pour water in small quantities, the victim, whose breathing becomes more and more difficult, makes incredible efforts to swallow this water and suck in a little air, but with each his efforts which necessarily give his whole body a painful convulsion, the executioners turn the tourniquet and the rope penetrates to the bones. 4. The Torment of the Wheel. Bound on a wooden drum, the tortured person, whose flesh is already bruised by this circular position, undergoes the most terrifying torture. The executioners, in fact, having taken care to place a fiery brazier underneath, turn the wheel at a speed cleverly calculated to graduate the degree of suffering. The body passes back and forth over this blaze which one of the helpers ardently fans with a bellows. Then the brazier is replaced by a bench furnished with spikes on which the unfortunate man turns and plows his flesh. 5. L'Auto-da-fé. On the widest facade of the square, in front of the palace occupied by the king and his retinue, the pyre is set up made of resinous wood, oily materials and straw so that combustion is faster. To the right of this pyre rises an amphitheater on the steps of which we see the armchair intended for the Grand Inquisitor. The condemned are brought in procession wearing a miter. After the sentence is read, they are tied to the stake and the executioner armed with a torch comes to set it on fire. Soon a thick, blackish smoke rises around the tortured, whose terrible agony begins. During this time, the priests play a verse from "De Profundis" or "Miserere", a mournful chant which mixes with human lamentations and the groans of the dying. And the people, kneeling, remain bowed under a deep impression of terror and pity.
- DirectorJ.H. MartinA barber cuts heads off Negro and white customers, who then dismember him.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree friends go on a trip and decided to rest at an abandoned house. Everything seems pretty normal until really weird things start to happen.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo travelers are tormented by Satan from inn to inn and eventually experience a buggy ride through the heavens courtesy of the Devil.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsIt is the proceedings of a spiritualist séance. A table whirls around, spirits appear and disappear, and other marvelous feats savoring of the supernatural are performed.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA penniless troubadour consults the Fairy Carabosse about his future but offends her by paying with a bag of sand.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaStarsJulienne MathieuA demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerWilliam V. RanousOn a dark and stormy night, a traveler takes a room at a spooky hotel in the forest. As soon as the proprietor leaves, the room comes alive with ghosts and poltergeists who torment the man as he tries to unpack, eat, and go to sleep.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsWe are introduced to the interior of a vast cave and the Bogie Man, who commences to prepare a meal, first blowing his fire with large bellows. Then preparing an enormous frying-pan, he places therein all kinds of vegetables, flour, etc., finishing up with a bucket of water. This is not enough to satisfy his bogieship, so he calls for a captive boy, who appears, and on being told he is to become food for the bogie, begs hard for his life. All in vain, the bogie seizes him, carries him to the kneading board and proceeds to chop him into mincemeat, which he adds to the contents of the frying-pan, stirring the whole with a ladle, tasting to learn its progress. While it is cooking he takes a look, draws his chair to the fire and commences to read, after a while he becomes drowsy and falls asleep. Then a peculiar thing happens. From the smoke of the frying-pan a fairy emerges, waving her wand. There appear, one after the other, four gnomes, then following them four white rabbits, followed by the reincarnated body of the captive boy. At the order of the fairy the gnomes take the pan from off the fire, then proceeding to the sleeping bogie they seize him roughly and wake him; then, despite his struggles, they place him on the fire and all with the fairy vanish leaving him there. Escaping from his uncomfortable position and writhing with pain he proceeds to vow vengeance, and pulling on his seven-leagued boots he tries to do as he used to do, but finds his power has gone and the boots are mysteriously withdrawn from his feet. Turning to discover the reason, he sees the fairy and his victim standing before him, and falls lifeless at their feet.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuAn old hag asks a young man to carry a bundle of firewood for her. He refuses; the hag reveals herself to be a witch, and in revenge punishes him with apparitions.
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthStarsGertie PotterBertie PotterA boy breaks his sister's doll and it mends, grows, tears him up and eats him.
- The strange antics of wax figures who come to life.
- DirectorLewin FitzhamonStarsThurston HarrisGertie PotterGhosts rise from a churchyard and hold a ball in a hotel.
- DirectorFerdinand ZeccaCaptivated by a vision of beckoning women, a man dives into the ocean, and soon finds himself walking on the ocean floor. After encountering numerous sea creatures, he comes to a giant oyster. When the oyster is opened, a strange adventure begins for the diver.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsA magic cabinet turns two young girls into hideous beasts.
- An Asiatic Prince, surrounded by his suite, soldiers and the ladies of the harem, is seated on his throne amid a scene of surpassing splendor. During the festivities a snake charmer, seeing the Bloodstone upon the Prince's finger, makes the prophecy that the ring, which is proverbially unlucky, will soon bring woe and ruin to the nation. This angers the Prince and the fakir is thrown out by the numidian guards. An old courtier is directed to consult the archives and he, too, verifies the prediction. The Prince is very uneasy. A dancer is summoned to amuse him. Now ensues a terrible scene. The city is in flames, the ruthless invaders enter, a massacre takes place, the Prince is put to death and a sailor takes the unlucky ring from his finger. A gambler fleeces the sailor; he starts a row and is shot by the gambler. Before expiring he hands the ring to the doctor. The doctor and his party embark for America. The ship is wrecked, and for weeks three famished men toss about the Pacific on a raft. As the doctor dies from thirst and hunger he hands the ring to young Gerald. A ship is sighted and the government launch hauls them aboard. Arriving at home a jealous suitor tries to poison his wine, but unkind fate still follows the ring and his fiancee dies through drinking the wine. Gerald is now desperate. In his room he smashes the ring to pieces. Almost on the instant the spell is broken. A letter announces a legacy and the sun seems to shine at last.
- DirectorOtis TurnerStarsHobart BosworthBetty HarteDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuA young woman passing through a cemetery at night is suddenly startled by a voice coming from one of the graves. She wishes to rush away, but the ghost appearing compels her to remain. He explains to the terrified girl that she must go to the kingdom of Satan and get a bottle of the Water of Life, which she must bring back to him. The girl consents to do as he desires and starts forth on her expedition after the precious fluid. She summons a lot of soldiers and friends to her aid, and we follow the whole army down into the bowels of the earth. Arriving at the gate of Satan's kingdom, they mount a chariot of fire and, arriving at the devil's palace, give fight to the demons mounting guard over their king, and after having defeated them rush into the palace. Now Satan, seeing his life in peril, disappears in a cloud of smoke, and thunder, and is seen again as he dashes through his vast domains gathering together his people, and while they await the conquering chariot another fight ensues. The devil is beaten again and the bottle of life is stolen by the leader of the victorious army, and they are all about to depart when a terrible explosion takes place and the chariot and its occupants are dashed to the ground. All are killed: but the brave woman who undertook the expedition, and she goes forth alone, meeting on her way dragons and vampires, who try to stop her progress towards earth. She defeats them all, however, and arriving at the ghost's grave raps on the marble slab, the ghost appears, drinks the water and is immediately transformed into a beautiful prince. The last scene of this interesting film shows the happy marriage of the once-deceased man and the beautiful and courageous bride.
- Patients behave like apes after being given monkey-gland injections.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonStarsFlorence AuerRobert HarronJack Frost looked forth one still, clear night, And he said, "Now I shall be out of sight, so over the valley and over the height in silence I'll make my way." That season of the year when the Earth gets Old Sol's Capricornus and Sol gets the Earth's "goat," is especially fascinating to youth. Such is the time of action of the Biograph's latest comedy. Tis afternoon and outside the little old schoolhouse a furious blizzard rages. The earth has donned her spotless robe of white and the landscape presents a brilliant spectacle, but pitiless Boreas lashes in whirling directions the fleecy snow, heaping it up into miniature mountain ranges. School session concluding, the youngsters come tumbling out into the snow. Romping about, snowballing and like sports are indulged in, until finally they set to work to build a snowman. Around it they dance in high glee, and at length the little revelers depart reluctantly for home, leaving the snowman in abject loneliness. "The day has fled, and dismal night descends, casting her sable arms around the world and folding all within her sable grasp." Then the moon, fair regent of the night, rises ghost-like from the dim horizon, shedding her silvery light across the frozen moor, and seems to mock the cheerless solitude of the icy sentinel, until the good Fairy of the Snows appears and with her mystic want imbues him with life. At this moment along comes Predatory Pete, returning from one of his nocturnal expeditions. He has just clandestinely reduced the census of a neighboring henhouse by four fat pullets, which he has in a bag slung over his shoulder. Coming suddenly upon the snow-man, he is at first startled, but soon discovers what it is, and putting his pipe in the snowman's mouth, takes out a bottle to toast his frozen majesty, when, to his amazement, the snow-man is seen puffing away on the pipe with apparent enjoyment. Aghast, he drops the bottle and chickens and dashes madly across the fields, frightened almost as white as the snow through which he flounders. The snow-man picks up the bottle and takes a swig. "Nectar! What joy is here?" and he drains the bottle. Here is an oddity, a snow-man with a jag. Staggering into the schoolhouse, he finds the temperature too high, so throws the stove out into snow-drifts. Overcome by the booze, he lays down in the snow to sleep it off. Early morning finds him still asleep as the school children are returning to their lessons. All have entered but Sallie Simpkins, the village romp. At Sallie's approach Mr. Snow-man awakes and frightens her almost into convulsions. She darts into the schoolhouse and convinces the teacher and scholars that the place is bewitched. Out they come, and, guided by Pete, the coon, follow the vacillating roving snow-man circumambulating over the frigid, fleecy kopjes back to the point of starting, and find him standing on the very spot where he came into being. Cautiously they approach, and, led by the coon, make a mad rush on Mr. Snowman, who from the assault crumbles and falls into a heap of "Oh, Slush!" The subject of this film must appeal to you as being screamingly funny, while the scenic beauty is indeed incomparable and novel.
- This interesting little drama opens in a cobbler's shop, where the old shoemaker is seen busy at his work, assisted by his apprentice, who is attired in the costume of a Pierrot. A young and beautiful girl comes in and leaves her order for a pair of shoes, and the young man falls desperately in love with her at first sight. When the boots are finished the old man sends the boy to deliver them to the young woman's house, a magnificently appointed establishment. After he puts on the young lady's shoes, instead of leaving, he tarries and is soon telling her of his infatuation. She does not take him seriously, but seems to enjoy his entreaties as a good joke. She ridicules his clothes and tells him that his position in life is too menial to allow her the money required to keep up her social position. Finally she dismisses him, and he goes on his way back to the shop, feeling most dejected. Realizing that he must have gold to win the girl's affection, he makes his way to the old man's room, where he knows his money is concealed. He rifles everything in his vain search of fortune, and at last finds a large quantity of money sewed in the mattress. The old man, hearing the noise, comes upon the robber, and there is a struggle between the two, in which the boy seizes a knife and plunges it into the old man's heart. Rushing off, he seeks the young woman, and is not long in winning her affection after showing her the money. After he has confided his ill-gotten treasure to her care, his conscience disturbs him, and he sees the ghost of the man he robbed and murdered. The specter leads him from the side of the girl and follows him closely wherever he goes. Finally, in a fit of desperation at the memory of his crime, we see him take a knife, plunge it into his own heart, and die by the roadside.
- A young and pretty chambermaid deeply in love with an ugly dragoon is busily engaged entertaining her sweetheart in her mistress' parlor when, hearing her master and mistress returning, conceals her beloved in a big china closet in the sitting room. The proprietors of the premises enter shortly and have brought with them a renowned scientist who can apparently confer with spirits. He makes tables dance and rap for the astonished guests and, assuring them that he can compel spirits to obey and answer his commands, calls out in a loud voice, "Spirit, if you hear me rap once ..." Now the soldier in the cupboard bearing the request for a little noise profits by the opportunity to move into a more comfortable position in his place of concealment and vigorously raps three powerful blows on the door. The guests are terrified and astonished but not so much as our spiritualist who has never met with such success. Pushing his experiments further our performer orders the spirit to appear before the assistants and to the horror of all out comes a huge big form from the china closet, whirls round the room once or twice and disappears through the door leaving the panic stricken guests sprawling on the floor. The soldier in the last scene is shown hugging his sweetheart to his breast and telling her amidst convulsions of laughter how he has impersonated a ghost and thus gained the door of the parlor unsuspected by her employers.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerA one-armed man obtains an artificial limb which he cannot control.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterCaleb Rankin, toying with the affections of pretty Betty Grigsby, finally jilts her for another, and turns a deaf ear to her entreaties. Twenty years later we find him now "Squire" Rankin, with a pretty daughter, Polly, and Betty, an old woman, credited with being a witch, and known as "Dame" Grigsby. A party of young people, among them the Squire's daughter, go to Dame Grigsby's hut in the woods to have their fortunes told. The Dame recognizes Polly and tells her some unpleasant things. The Squire arrives, scolds Polly and berates the old woman, who swears vengeance. Exercising her powers of witchcraft, she endows a pumpkin-headed scarecrow with life, and creates a modern, foppy youth and sends him forth to make love to the Squire's daughter. In this he succeeds, and after a due courtship, the Squire consents to the marriage and a grand wedding is planned. Dame Grigsby attends in the guise of a fine lady, and, as the happy couple are about to depart, she changes the bridegroom back into a scarecrow, to the consternation of the guests, and the mortification of the Squire. Thus is the old wrong righted to the satisfaction of Betty Grigsby.
- The old bogey woman is an avowed enemy of all the children, for she has the power to change them into various vegetables, which she stores up in her cellar. One day while passing through the wood she comes upon two youngsters at play and immediately transforms them into a head of cabbage and a carrot, respectively. As she is carrying her burden home, a brother of the children, who has seen the transformation, hastens to give the alarm. The poor parents are distracted and give up hope of ever seeing their children again, but the little brother is visited by a fairy queen who gives him a wand and bids him go forth in search of the little ones. The youngster starts out and in his travels meets with many obstacles but they are soon overcome under the power of the magic wand. Finally coming to a fountain he takes some of the magic waters which he takes with him to the home of the bogey woman. Entering the place he sees a large heap of vegetables on which he sprinkles some of the water. Immediately there is a great transformation and a lot of romping children appear before him. The old bogey woman rushes in, but a few drops of water cause her to vanish into smoke and all the youngsters are liberated and return to their joyful parents.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorPercy StowA professor's invention melts metal and people's faces.
- In the present picture the wonders are worked by a terrible little imp who has his residence in an oddly shaped bottle. He has the power to grant every wish that the owner of the bottle can frame, except that for a long life, and the penalty attached is that anyone who dies with the bottle in his possession goes straight through to perdition and eternal punishment. Consequently whoever owns this wonderful bottle is anxious to get all he can as speedily as possible and then get rid of the bottle; but here another hard condition appears: the bottle can be sold only for less than it cost. This sounds very simple until the price, reduced from purchaser to purchaser, reaches the two-pence mark, at which point the story of the film begins. A young sailor's rapt admiration for the King's daughter attracts the attention of an old magician who owns this wonderful bottle. Being, like every other purchaser, anxious to get rid of it, the magician seizes the sailor's love as a possible means to an end. He takes the young man to his own house, shows him the wonders of the bottle and offers it to him for the small sum of two pence. The sailor is only too glad to close the bargain, but after testing the properties of the bottle by wishing for a sum of money, he incautiously desires to see the imp himself, and the sight is so terrible that he would gladly call the bargain off, only the thought of the beautiful Princess makes him wish to still retain the bottle. We see him stand upon the hillside and wish for a house worthy of her, and we see the house appear in the thin air. We see him wish for the Princess, and she stands before him; and then we see the start of his troubles when the real heart story begins. The knowledge that no one will buy the fatal bottle for one penny when aware of the fact that it might be impossible to sell it for less, weighs upon the now prosperous young sailor, until the Princess notes it and asks the cause of his depression. When she learns it, like the wonderful little woman that she is, she resolves to lose her own soul to save that of her sailor lover. She bribes an old beggar to buy the bottle from her for one penny. Relieved of it, the sailor's joy is unbounded, but curiosity makes him follow the beggar, and by so doing he learns of the self-sacrifice of his Princess wife. He now faces the alternative of seeing her a lost soul or of finding some way of getting the bottle himself. The thought of the half penny comes to him and he gets a drunken sailor companion of former days to buy the bottle from the Princess for a half penny, knowing that by so doing it will come back to his possession, and this time irretrievably. The drunken sailor comes from the magnificent house carrying the mystic bottle, and noting its emptiness, wishes that it were full that he might have another drink. The wish, of course, is instantly granted and the bottle overflows with liquor. The reprobate is delighted and resolves not to complete the bargain, but to keep the bottle for his own. Though warned what its possession means to him, he decides that it is worth the price, and we see the bottle disappear from the lives of the now happy young people. The story is clearly and happily told by the Edison players, and the bottle's magic properties are taken full advantage of.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaA man buys the novel The Invisible Man by "G.H. Wells" at a bookshop, and in it finds the recipe for Wells' invisibility potion. Then the opportunity makes the thief.
- DirectorGérard Bourgeois
- "Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and graves give up their dead." It is the hour when ghosts come forth and prowl, when elves and spirits of the spirit world hold merry carnival in the realms of the living. Imagine yourself at the midnight hour in an old house that has long had the reputation of being haunted, a house in which several people have attempted to sleep and have failed. You are impelled by a love of the mysterious to see if these reports are true, and have bolstered your courage up to the sticking point for the occasion. Approaching the building you are impressed by the ominous silence and gloom that envelop it. The hoot of an owl and the sudden apparition of a myriad of bats send cold chills chasing one another up and down your spinal cord. Entering a large room, your ears are assailed by unearthly noises and discordant sounds. You are about to seat yourself at a table when table and chair disappear as if by magic and you sprawl upon the floor. You see strange shapes and weird, flitting figures; you are chased from one room to another by toothless hags and dried up witches; skeletons grin at you from every nook and cranny of the building, disappearing and reappearing in a most bewildering fashion: a pretty girl comes out of the frame of an old picture, and as you are about to kiss her hand you find a donkey's head nestling snugly in your fingers. Would you be frightened? One young man about town certainly was when he saw all these strange happenings. The aforesaid young man had made a wager with some of his fellow club members that he would sleep in the old haunted house overnight. His friends, not doubting his bravery but thinking to have a little sport and at the same time make his evening interesting, engaged a professor of sleight-of-hand to take them to the haunted house and give an exhibition of his feats of magic for the benefit of the adventurous young club member. Fortunately for the picture loving public the Edison Company had an operator and his camera in the house that evening and everything that happened is now reproduced in detail as a moving picture, even to the young man's return to his club and the discovery of the trick played on him.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician creates a butterfly woman and then a spider woman.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónHaving checked into a hotel for the night, an inn guest is awakened in his sleep by two hideous monsters who terrorize him; and the room comes to life as furniture disappears into mid air, and chairs multiply themselves.
- DirectorViggo LarsenStarsViggo LarsenHolger-MadsenGustav LundIn a mansion full of secret rooms and passageways, people are dying shortly after seeing the ghost of a woman in gray, as an old legend dictates. Called in to solve the mystery, Sherlock Holmes has doubts about the supernatural aspect of the crimes and focuses on a more earthly culprit.
- This picture reveals an old, deserted castle, which is infested with spooks. Two wanderers happen by as night falls, and having no place to lodge they pick out this very desirable looking old house as a place to rest and spend a quiet night. Upon entering the castle they soon discover that they are sadly disappointed in their choice, for immediately they see all sorts of strange objects dancing around them and grotesque spook faces gazing at them from every nook and corner. Too late to retrace their steps, the pair enter the old deserted dining-room, where, standing in the corner, is a closet copiously filled with rare edibles. As they are about to help themselves a lot of fierce looking animals come from the closet and proceed to make life unbearable for the distressed guests. The pair rush into the kitchen and there they meet his Satanic Majesty, who does some of his fine work and calls forth more ferocious beasts, and things are reaching a serious state in the place when, behold, the good Fairy Queen appears and changes everything into the sublime. The animals are all transformed into gallant knights and by a wave of the magic wand a group of pretty maidens appear and the old deserted castle is turned into a most hospitable place where the weary old travelers take advantage of all the courtesy showered upon them.
- DirectorGeorges MoncaStarsAndré DeedA man behaves like a monkey after its brain is transplanted into him.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsWilliam SorelleFaust, an aged philosopher and magician who has grown weary of life and has sought in vain for the secret of eternal youth, decides, after a night's long vigil, to call forth from the realms of darkness the evil one to aid him. Mephistopheles appears and offers him his services in return for Faust's soul. The aged philosopher refuses to accept until the devil shows him a vision of Marguerite in all her maiden simplicity and beauty. Faust agrees to accept the compact providing Mephistopheles will give him youth, wealth and love. This the devil agrees to do. The bond is signed; the devil gives him a powerful drink which transforms the aged man into a dashing young cavalier, and forth they go into the world to seek the pleasures of life, but which, under the evil spell, turn to wormwood and gall. Faust meets Marguerite coming from church and offers to escort her home, but with maidenly modesty she declines. He is fired with love and enamored of her beauty, and the devil offers a plan to win her love. Stealing into her garden, a jewel casket is left filled with "pearls, rubies and diamonds rare." Marguerite finds the casket and cannot forbear to adorn herself with the jewels. It is while she is thus occupied that a neighbor, Dame Martha, discovers her. Shortly afterwards Faust and Mephistopheles appear, and here follows the winning of Marguerite's love in the rose garden. Night draws its mystic veil around them while the mocking demon gloats over his victims. We next see Marguerite betrayed and deserted. She falls pleading at the shrine of the Virgin for forgiveness, but is even denied this solace by the presence of the devil, Valentine, Marguerite's brother, returns from the war and learns of his sister's betrayal. He seeks out Faust and engages him in a duel. By Mephistopheles' aid Valentine is stabbed. Dying, he curses Marguerite and ends his life as a soldier and a man. Marguerite's reason has been shaken by her grief and sorrow. She kills her child and is cast into prison, where Mephistopheles brings Faust in order that he may fly with Marguerite, hut she, poor thing, does not comprehend. She understands only her great love for him, and, her mind possessed by that one thought, she plucks once again the daisy of love, counting each imaginary petal as it falls. Faust in his agony begs for her forgiveness. Her dying reply, "Forgiveness! Faust, I love thee," tells the whole story, as from his arms she sinks away into eternity. Mephistopheles pronounces her damned, but the angels of heaven appear and proclaim her saved; while Faust sinks into eternal damnation, writhing under the scorn and mockery of the devil, who now claims him for his own.
- DirectorHenri Desfontaines
- A hunchback saves his beloved from a Baron, and dies.
- DirectorFrancis BoggsIn close proximity to the quickly improving little city of Astoria, Ore., noted for its fisheries, there lives old Skipper Stout and his daughter, Jennie. An old acquaintance, Jed Prouty, is anxious to form an alliance between his son, Hiram, and Jennie, the latter really being in love with John Todd, a fisher lad. Skipper Stout favors Hiram's suit, because of the apparent prosperity his energies have yielded him and consents to the match. This is agreed upon and seeing his daughter talking to John down on the beach, he and the two Proutys join them, only to find Jennie in the arms of John, a willing subject to John's honest pleading that she become his wife. With this condition of affairs confronting him, old Stout informs Todd of the betrothal he has just acquiesced in between his daughter and Hiram. Thereupon, Jennie, thus placed in a dilemma wherein she must choose, openly avows her love for Todd. The natural outcome is hasty words, bred of quickened tempers, and after a lively quarrel, and the wrenching of muscle against muscle. John hurries his sweetheart into a fishing-yawl nearby and pulls. A week later we find the young couple married, much to the chagrin of Hiram, whose father shares in his dismay. They then determine to revenge themselves on the unsuspecting young husband, and form a plot to entice him down to one of the wharf landings. Arriving at the wharf, he is engaged in conversation by the supposed buyer, and while thus engrossed, is beset by Hiram, his father and others. A coat is thrown deftly over his head, and after a fierce struggle for freedom, he is thrown aboard an awaiting tug boat, which immediately puts out into the sound. The engines of the tug are scarcely in motion, when Jennie, frantic with what she has just seen, and despite her father's attempted intervention, rushes to a nearby revenue office. Once there, she startles the occupants with a hasty recital of what has taken place. With authority derived from Uncle Sam they at once board a faster vessel, and taking the girl with them, start in pursuit. That a stern chase is a long one proves true in this instance. Yet they begin slowly but surely to overhaul the tug ahead, and just as John is about to be "shanghaied" aboard a large tramp steamer, the tug is boarded by the rescuing party, after an exchange of a few shots, and John is delivered to the welcome arms of his hysterical young wife. The absconders are made prisoners, and after alighting at the wharf left only a few hours before, the culprits are laced in stocks amid the hooting and jeering of the assembled throng of curious onlookers there to remain until the law's exacting is fulfilled.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónOn a fine winter morning, an aristocratic couple of city dwellers decide to have a picnic in the great outdoors, however, everything seems to go wrong, all at once.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsBarry O'MooreLinda ArvidsonArthur V. JohnsonThe story, while not biographical, is founded on incidents in his life, showing his devotion for his sick wife, Virginia. Desperate from his utter helplessness to ameliorate his dying wife's suffering, owing to extreme destitution, he is in a frenzy of grief, when a raven is seen to perch on a bust of Pallas above the door of their cold, cheerless apartment. An inspiration! He sets to work, and that masterpiece. "The Raven," is the fruit. During his work he has divested himself of his coat, putting it over his wife to protect her from the cold. The poem finished, he rushes coatless and hatless to the publisher, where he meets with scant attention. One editor, however, thinks the work possesses some merit and offers ten dollars for it. Ten dollars for the greatest jewel in the diadem of fame - think of it! Poe thinks of the comforts, meager though they needs must be, for his poor wife and accepts the offer. Hastening to the store, he procures food, a heavy comfortable for the cot, and medicine, and with much lighter heart returns home. Spreading the quilt tenderly over Virginia, he takes her hand and gazes fondly into her sightless eyes, but the cold, unresponsive hand tells him the awful truth. "My God, she is dead!" and he falls prostrate across the cot.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuAn attractive young woman, falling asleep on a park bench, begins to dream. Satan appears to her as she sleeps, and sends her off to a hellish cavern which is inhabited by big-headed, large, hideous dwarf-like creatures. At first, they act like friends, but by accidentally offending them, these wicked being roast her over a fire. Fortunately, she wakes up, unhappy and thankful it was all a dream; but, as her rest has not been peaceful, she again attempts some shut-eye. She then begins dreaming again. This time, a magical woman appears to her and transports her to a beautiful fantasy world where she dances with a handsome prince. After waking up, she wishes her dream to come true, but the suitor she encounters thereafter isn't exactly who she was hoping for.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- Two sets of images are superimposed. From the side, we see a two-masted ship. Across the deck walks a skeleton. It sits down, its legs akimbo. The legs separate and continue a dance while the body of the skeleton faces us and the skull moves its jaw bone. It rises and the legs rejoin the skull and body for an additional jig back and forth on deck.
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthStarsCecil M. HepworthHenry LawleyAs two couples enjoy their evening promenade in a nice but rickety open motor car, without notice, an explosion blows the vehicle to smithereens.
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthStarsMay ClarkCecil M. HepworthIn one glorious point-of-view shot, a vehicle dashes full-speed into an ill-starred passer-by.
- DirectorAlice GuySurgery is performed at the turn of the century.
- DirectorJ.H. MartinMen expose a fake medium's tricks and take revenge.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsSound asleep in his comfortable armchair next to a high-pressure retort, a mystic silver-haired alchemist can't even notice the strange manifestations emerging from the vessel's bottom. Is this a dream, or a cornucopia of secreted desires?
- DirectorGaston VelleThe town-crier summons the inhabitants of the town and they read a manifesto which is posted on a wall announcing the fact that at 4 o'clock on that day the Lord Mayor will receive bids for the building of a town clock. One of those who reads it is an old clockmaker, who, stopping before the placard, reflects long and thoughtfully before putting in his bid for the work. While he thus stands the devil appears on the scene and hands him a drawing showing a clock of exquisite workmanship such as could never have been fashioned by human hands. The old man accepts this design from the evil one and is next seen competing with other clock-makers for the work. Of course his bid is accepted and the Mayor instructs him to begin his work at once. He is how seen in his shop, tinkering with springs and wheels and other mechanism, when suddenly Mephisto appears again. The latter presents a paper to the old man, which he finds on reading to be a contract so drawn up that if he, the clock-maker, agrees to same, the wonderful clock will be his, but at the price of his own soul, which the devil proposes to take into his own keeping. The clockmaker at first refuses vehemently to consider such a proposition, but the devil with some mysterious passing of the hands causes all of the Roman figures on the clock to appear as in a tableau and execute a pretty dance, after which they quickly vanish. Again he proffers the contract, but the old man is still steadfast in his refusal, but Satan, not to be thwarted in his wicked designs, causes to appear another tableau which shows a shop of flaming fire, in which the devil and his emissaries are at work with anvil and forge molding the parts of the clock. Suddenly the scene changes and the wonderful piece of mechanism is seen complete and perfect. The clock-maker is bewildered and tries to move toward it, but the devil intercepts him and then the entire scene disappears. With the image of the wonderful clock whirling in his brain, the old man accepts the proposition of Mephisto and signs the contract, but while he is in the act of affixing his signature to the document, his daughter slips unseen into the room and witnesses his act. Now the devil leads his victim out into the public square and bringing his infernal power into play causes the gigantic timepiece to rise to its proper place. The Mayor now appears and seeing the marvelous clock orders the town crier to summon the inhabitants of the town, who quickly gather around in mute admiration. On the appearance of the old man, the supposed creator of this wonderful work, he is quickly raised from the ground and borne on the shoulders of the jubilant and admiring crowd. This happy scene, however, is not of long duration, for the old man's daughter coming in upon them upbraids her father for his act in contracting with the devil and raising her hand hurls a rock at the face of the clock, smashing it completely. Now Mephisto appears to claim the old man's soul, but the daughter, aware of his intention, draws, forth a cross, at the sight of which the evil spirit takes flight. The exposure of his wickedness and dishonesty causes the old clockmaker to lose his reason, and he soon becomes a raving maniac. He is next seen at a tavern, where he happens to see a clock, which he dashes to the ground in maniacal fury. It seems that the devil still has control over the old man, for when they are gathered together and he raises his cup to drink, his glass as well as those of the other guests seems filled with flame instead of liquid. The old man now becomes violent and tears around the room in a rage. One now sees the delusions of the unfortunate man's diseased brain, which cause a wine cask to become a clock, and then change into a hideous human visage. The next scene shows the old clockmaker in his home, where all manner of imps persist in tormenting him, and finally the devil himself appears and mockingly flaunts the signed contract before his agonized victim. The old man's daughter now comes in and endeavors to help her father, but Mephisto is obdurate and is just about to seize the aged man when the Angel of Light and Truth descends with flaming sword and quickly routs the evil one. The last scene of the film is symbolic of the angel's victory over the devil. Here a pretty tableau is seen, which terminates with a picture of the Angel pointing to the ground, where the devil lies crouching and quivering with fear. -- The Moving Picture World, November 30, 1907
- DirectorGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonStarsBen TurpinA homeless man, rousted by the police, hides in a lounge trunk, which a series of owners mistakenly believe to be haunted.
- DirectorLéon BoedelsStarsLouis BouwmeesterKo van SprinkhuijsenMien de la MarJean-Marie Hardouin, once notorious for his iron grip he exerted on his family, spends the last of his days in a chair in his son's house. He sees his adulterous daughter-in-law plotting to murder her children and husband. Jean-Marie is mute and cannot warn his family. Eventually, he gathers his strengths and strangles the daughter-in-law.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsCharles ClaudelOctavie HuvierFrançois LallementA man rents an apartment and furnishes it in remarkable fashion.