A Journey Through the History of Cinema.

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A Journey Through the History of Cinema.

With CaptainT and everybody who wants to accompany him!


For a while now I've been wanting to watch more movies from different time periods. Almost all movies I've seen so far have been from this decade and from most decades I haven't even seen more than 10 movies!
I think that it's quite clear that I have some catching up to do.
I figured that in order to catch up all I needed to do was watch older movies, but there are so many movies that I didn't really know where to start. That's when I came up with the idea of just starting at the total beginning and working my way through every year and that's what my original plan was for this thread.
I still didn't really know where exactly to start though. In order to find that out I started watching some videos and reading some things about movie history and I actually really liked that, so instead of just watching and reviewing movies from every year, I'm also planning on learning about the things that are important in the movie history of those years and sharing those in this thread as well.
It might get really hard to find out which movies from every year are worth watching, especially not having watched them yet, but luckily, this forum is filled with people who know a lot about movies and from all those people there should be at least one person (There hopefully are a lot more than one ) who is able to recommend some movies from a certain time period, so I don't think that that will be a problem.
I'm really looking forward to watching a lot of new movies, and hopefully, some of you will be able to learn some new things too.


We're leaving soon! You better hurry up if you don't want to miss the train!




Enjoy your travels!



This sounds awesome If you find any interesting reading material make sure to post it here.

Not sure about starting from the beginning you might lose interest that way since as you said you aren't that used to old cinema but if that's what you want to do then go for it. When are you starting? Like the first moving photographs in the 1860's haha.



This sounds awesome If you find any interesting reading material make sure to post it here.

Not sure about starting from the beginning you might lose interest that way since as you said you aren't that used to old cinema but if that's what you want to do then go for it. When are you starting? Like the first moving photographs in the 1860's haha.
I was planning on starting with Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895) and then jumping to A Trip to the Moon (1902). From there on I'm not really sure yet



I was planning on starting with Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895) and then jumping to A Trip to the Moon (1902). From there on I'm not really sure yet
Let's watch Arrival of a Train together.



*49 seconds later* WOW, that was awesome i heard the audiences were scared by it in 1895!



Let's watch Arrival of a Train together.



*49 seconds later* WOW, that was awesome i heard the audiences were scared by it in 1895!

If all movies would be 49 seconds this would be a lot easier
It would probably be a lot less fun though.

I heard that too! I don't know if it really is true, but at least it shows how impressive this was at that time. Compared to what they can do today it's a lot less impressive, but hey, how could they know.



I heard that too! I don't know if it really is true, but at least it shows how impressive this was at that time. Compared to what they can do today it's a lot less impressive, but hey, how could they know.
Pretty sure that's actually true. The story about Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast causing pandemonium on the streets is largely BS, there was some light vandalism and destruction of property in a couple of large cities related to it but it wasn't a noticeable difference for the authorities. Think i read a publicist for it created that story. The scared of the train story was widely reported at the time though and it's completely understandable, i'm sure the first human/humanoid to discover fire was freaked out haha.



The Pre-1920's


The first "decade" I'll be going through is everything made before 1920. If anyone has recommendations they'd be very welcome! I'll update the watchlist down below and when I've posted a review of a film I'll change the titles into links to the posts where the review can be found.

Watchlist:

1896:
- The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, Lumière Brothers
1902:
- A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès
1903:
- The Great Train Robbery, Edwin S. Porter
1906:
- The Black Hand, Wallace McCutcheon
1910:
- Frankenstein, J. Searle Dawley
1912:
- The Cameraman's Revenge, Wladyslaw Starevic
- The Musketeers of Pig Alley, D. W. Griffith
1914:
- Cabiria, Giovanni Pastrone
- Gertie the Dinosaur, Winsor McCay
- Amor Pedestre, Marcel Perez
1915:
- The Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith
- Les Vampires, Louis Feuillade
- The Cheat, Cecil B. DeMille
- Regeneration, Raul Walsh
1916:
- Intolerance, D. W. Griffith
- Hell's Hinges - Charles Swickard
1917:
- The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin
- Easy Street, Charlie Chaplin
- A Man There Was, Victor Sjöstrom
1918:
- A Dog's Life, Charlie Chaplin
- Stella Maris, Marshall Neilan
- The Outlaw and his Wife, Victor Sjöstrom
1919:
- Broken Blossoms, D. W. Griffith
- J'accuse, Abel Gance
- Male & Female, Cecil B. DeMille
- Blind Husbands, Eric von Strohalm
- True Heart Susie, D. W. Griffith



The Pre-1920's


The first "decade" I'll be going through is everything made before 1920. If anyone has recommendations they'd be very welcome! I'll update the watchlist down below and when I've posted a review of a film I'll change the titles into links to the posts where the review can be found.

Watchlist:

1896 - The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, Lumière Brothers
1902 - A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès
1903 - The Great Train Robbery, Edwin S. Porter
1910 - Frankenstein, J. Searle Dawley
1912 - The Cameramen's Revenge, Wladyslaw Starevic
- The Musketeers on Pig Alley, D. W. Griffith
1914 - Cabiria, Giovanni Pastrone
- Gertie the Dinosaur, Winsor McCay
1915 - The Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith
- Les Vampires, Louis Feuillade
- The Cheat, Cecil B. DeMille
- Regeneration, Raul Walsh
1916 - Intolerance, D. W. Griffith
- Hell's Hinges - Charles Swickard
1917 - The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin
- Easy Street, Charlie Chaplin
- A Man There Was, Victor Sjöstrom
1918 - A Dog's Life, Charlie Chaplin
- Stella Maris, Marshall Neilan
- The Outlaw and his Wife, Victor Sjöstrom
1919 - Broken Blossoms, D. W. Griffith
- J'accuse, Abel Gance
- Male & Female, Cecil B. DeMille
- Blind Husbands, Eric von Strohalm
This is a really good list! I'm a big fan of Regeneration.

Just because I have a penchant for gangster movies, The Black Hand: True Story of a Recent Occurrence in the Italian Quarter of New York (1906) is on youtube for free, and is only ten minutes.




This is a really good list! I'm a big fan of Regeneration.

Just because I have a penchant for gangster movies, The Black Hand: True Story of a Recent Occurrence in the Italian Quarter of New York (1906) is on youtube for free, and is only ten minutes.

Thanks! I'll add it to my watchlist.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
These are my absolute pre-1920s favourites:

1 Duel au pistolet (1896)
Louis Lumière
2 Luttes extravagantes [An Extraordinary Wrestling Match] (1899)
Georges Méliès
3 Le voyage dans la Lune [A Trip to the Moon] (1902)
Georges Méliès
4 Pickpock ne craint pas les entraves [Slippery Jim] (1909)
Segundo de Chomón
5 Afgrunden [The Abyss] (1910)
Urban Gad
6 Ved Faenglets Port [Temptations of a Great City] (1911)
August Blom
7 L' inferno [Dante's Inferno] (1911)
Francesco Bertolini / Adolfo Padovan
8 Fantômas (1913)
Louis Feuillade
9 Сумерки женской души [Twilight of a Woman's Soul] (1913)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
10 Amor pedestre [Pedestrian Love] (1914)
Marcel Fabre
11 Hypocrites (1915)
Lois Weber
12 Regeneration (1915)
Raoul Walsh
13 Les Vampires [The Vampires] (1915)
Louis Feuillade
14 После смерти [After Death] (1915)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
15 Judex (1916)
Louis Feuillade
16 Hævnens nat [Blind Justice] (1916)
Benjamin Christensen
17 Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
D. W. Griffith
18 Отец Сергий [Father Sergius] (1917)
Яков Протазанов [Yakov Protazanov]
19 Умирающий лебедь [The Dying Swan] (1917)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
20 Terje Vigen [A Man There Was] (1917)
Victor Sjöström
21 Himmelskibet [A Trip to Mars] (1918)
Holger-Madsen
22 J'accuse! [I Accuse] (1919)
Abel Gance
23 Mod lyset [Towards the Light] (1919)
Holger-Madsen
24 Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)
D. W. Griffith
25 True Heart Susie (1919)
D. W. Griffith
26 The Trail of the Octopus (1919)
Duke Worne
27 Die Austernprinzessin [The Oyster Princess] (1919)
Ernst Lubitsch
__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Just watched it there. Why is it your favourite?
It looks so realistic, but I'm not sure if it's real or inscenized. Either way, the way the shot man falls is legendary.



Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) and Sallie Gardner at a Gallop (1878) are considered the first movies ever made.
Yeah. I Think I'd consider Roundhay Garden Scene the first movie ever made, because Sallie Gardner at a Galop was made by using 24 different cameras that made a picture as soon as the horse triggered a trip wire. Even though I think that that is a pretty ingenious idea for that time, I wouldn't count it as a movie because originally it were just photographs. Do you know the reason why Sallie Gardner at a Gallop was made? It was becaue Leland Stanford (The founder of the Stanford University) had a bet with someone that during a galop all 4 legs of a horse would be of the ground at some point. In order to settle it he hired a photographer (Muybridge) in order to prove that he was right. It turned out he was . I always found that a pretty funny story. I don't think I'll watch Roundhay Garden Scene though as it's only 2 seconds, so there won't be a lot to say about it.

These are my absolute pre-1920s favourites:

1 Duel au pistolet (1896)
Louis Lumière
2 Luttes extravagantes [An Extraordinary Wrestling Match] (1899)
Georges Méliès
3 Le voyage dans la Lune [A Trip to the Moon] (1902)
Georges Méliès
4 Pickpock ne craint pas les entraves [Slippery Jim] (1909)
Segundo de Chomón
5 Afgrunden [The Abyss] (1910)
Urban Gad
6 Ved Faenglets Port [Temptations of a Great City] (1911)
August Blom
7 L' inferno [Dante's Inferno] (1911)
Francesco Bertolini / Adolfo Padovan
8 Fantômas (1913)
Louis Feuillade
9 Сумерки женской души [Twilight of a Woman's Soul] (1913)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
10 Amor pedestre [Pedestrian Love] (1914)
Marcel Fabre
11 Hypocrites (1915)
Lois Weber
12 Regeneration (1915)
Raoul Walsh
13 Les Vampires [The Vampires] (1915)
Louis Feuillade
14 После смерти [After Death] (1915)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
15 Judex (1916)
Louis Feuillade
16 Hævnens nat [Blind Justice] (1916)
Benjamin Christensen
17 Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
D. W. Griffith
18 Отец Сергий [Father Sergius] (1917)
Яков Протазанов [Yakov Protazanov]
19 Умирающий лебедь [The Dying Swan] (1917)
Евгений Бауэр [Yevgeni Bauer]
20 Terje Vigen [A Man There Was] (1917)
Victor Sjöström
21 Himmelskibet [A Trip to Mars] (1918)
Holger-Madsen
22 J'accuse! [I Accuse] (1919)
Abel Gance
23 Mod lyset [Towards the Light] (1919)
Holger-Madsen
24 Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)
D. W. Griffith
25 True Heart Susie (1919)
D. W. Griffith
26 The Trail of the Octopus (1919)
Duke Worne
27 Die Austernprinzessin [The Oyster Princess] (1919)
Ernst Lubitsch
Thanks for the list! 7 of those are on my watchlist. I think that after I'm done with all the films I'm going to rank them. It'd be interesting to see if we rank them roughly the same or if there are any big differences (Between the placements from the 7 that are on both your and mine list I mean).



Don't obligate yourself to constantly keep watching films from the same time period. I don't think that's a great way to explore cinema. In my opinion, it's better to alternate. Make a list of 200 or 300 important/promising films that you want to watch from every period and that way you'll be able to wach films according to your mood, which is much more pleasant. It will make you enjoy everything a lot more!

It's good to force yourself at times to start watching something from a time period that you're less familiar with, though. So if you have a strong enough character to do it in the way you describe here, I'll definitely follow your thread.

Good luck!
__________________
Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019



You can't win an argument just by being right!
This looks like a great project and I would love to read any of the great articles you stumble upon but agree with Cobpyth's advice for you.Anyway, go for it.



Here is one you forgot that is older than the first you posted - La Charcuterie mécanique Freres Lumiere 1895



I love old cinema like this. I can sit around and watch for hours.



1895, Lumiere, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)