Comments on: Where can I find clips of very early films?

Question: Where can I find clips of very early films?

signal — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:31:34 -0800

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?

By: gluechunk

gluechunk — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:57:04 -0800

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

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:09:57 -0800

Eastman might have some too

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:20:37 -0800

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.

By: signal

signal — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:21:54 -0800

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.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:22:32 -0800

Also, American Memory Collections: Original Format: Motion Pictures

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:29:17 -0800

Magic, Illusion And Detection In Turn Of The Century America:
The Early Cinema

By: signal

signal — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 20:46:20 -0800

Good one, y2karl, the memory.loc.gov is amazing. Now if only I could find a french equivalent, I'd be set.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 20:52:16 -0800

follow these links maybe?

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 21:38:37 -0800

French association of Research on the History of the Cinema Links

By: taz

taz — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 22:21:50 -0800

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.

By: signal

signal — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 06:01:52 -0800

Thanks, all.

By: ODiV

ODiV — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 07:23:35 -0800

I've got The Great Train Robbery kicking around if you're interested.

By: biffa

biffa — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 14:14:02 -0800

signal - are you anywhere near a university that might have its own film studies dept? You might be able to get visitor access.

By: signal

signal — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:12:00 -0800

biffa, not any one with a good film studies dept, which is why I'm looking online.