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

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

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

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

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