Where can I find clips of very early films?

January 23, 2004 6:31 PM

A friend is preparing a film course. Does anybody know where I can find clips of the very first films, like "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station" by Louis Lumière for example, or even some of the pre-lumiere "films", such as those shown at penny arcades?
posted by signal to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

I don't think the Train film is on there, but you'll want to check out the 4-disc "Treasures from American Film Archives" DVD set. I've taken it out of the library twice and I still haven't gotten through all of it. It includes clips of interesting early stuff.

More info at:
http://www.filmpreservation.org/dvd/treasures.html (click on the Full Contents link there)
http://www.geraldpeary.com/essays/stuv/treasures.html
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1070/4_55/90333336/p1/article.jhtml
amazon detail page
posted by gluechunk at 6:57 PM on January 23, 2004

Eastman might have some too
posted by amberglow at 7:09 PM on January 23, 2004

The Lumière Brothers' First Films
[5434 LD 10038 DVD 61min bw and color 1996]
85 remastered works by Auguste and Louis Lumière, from 1895-97, from the Lumière Institute. Narrated by Bertrand Tavernier.
posted by y2karl at 7:20 PM on January 23, 2004

Response by poster: I'm actually looking for downloadable stuff, gluechunk, as we're in Chile and don't have the wherewithal to buy DVDs from overseas.
Good link, amber.
posted by signal at 7:21 PM on January 23, 2004

Also, American Memory Collections: Original Format: Motion Pictures
posted by y2karl at 7:22 PM on January 23, 2004

Magic, Illusion And Detection In Turn Of The Century America:
The Early Cinema
posted by y2karl at 7:29 PM on January 23, 2004

Response by poster: Good one, y2karl, the memory.loc.gov is amazing. Now if only I could find a french equivalent, I'd be set.
posted by signal at 8:46 PM on January 23, 2004

follow these links maybe?
posted by amberglow at 8:52 PM on January 23, 2004

French association of Research on the History of the Cinema Links
posted by y2karl at 9:38 PM on January 23, 2004

signal, perhaps not exactly what you are looking for, but The Open Video Project has quite a few historical clips, with the oldest ones dating to the late 1800s. This link should lead to search results in the "historic" category, sorted by date (newest to oldest - go to the last page of results for the earliest clips). At any rate, this site is likely to come in handy for a course like this.
posted by taz at 10:21 PM on January 23, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks, all.
posted by signal at 6:01 AM on January 24, 2004

I've got The Great Train Robbery kicking around if you're interested.
posted by ODiV at 7:23 AM on January 24, 2004

signal - are you anywhere near a university that might have its own film studies dept? You might be able to get visitor access.
posted by biffa at 2:14 PM on January 24, 2004

Response by poster: biffa, not any one with a good film studies dept, which is why I'm looking online.
posted by signal at 8:12 PM on January 24, 2004