Quote:
“One of the first film stars, Annabelle made her debut at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. She was a featured performer on Broadway when she was filmed by Dickson in 1894. Her Serpentine and Butterfly Dances were so popular that Dickson filmed her again for the American Mutoscope in 1896.” – Paul Spehr

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“Annabelle’s skirt dances are among the earliest artistic works in film history. Looking directly at us, she turns, crouches, extends her arms, carves the space of the frame with the multi-hued drapes attached to wands in her hands. There are no edits, no camera movements, just a graceful kinetic invocation.” — Robert A. Haller

Annabelle Dances and Dances - Serpentine and Butterfly Dances (1894-1897).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	5 min 22 s
Size: 	138 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	686x480 ~> 686x514
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 351 kb/s
BPP: 	0.424
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/21503F9521A388C/Annabelle_Dances_and_Dances_-_Serpentine_and_Butterfly_Dances_(1894-1897).mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post William K.L. Dickson & William Heise – Annabelle Dances and Dances – Serpentine and Butterfly Dances (1894-1897) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
In what is considered the first remake in cinema history, prolific French director Georges Méliès directs his first film, depicting a delightful afternoon among friends playing cards over a glass of beer.

It was the first film in Méliès’ prolific career, and thus is number one in his Star Film catalogue. It is a remake of Louis Lumière’s film The Messers. Lumière at Cards, which was released earlier the same year. Along with Georges Méliès himself, his brother Gaston Méliès and daughter Georgette Méliès also appear in the film.

The film, long presumed lost and was rediscovered after 1981

Georges Melies - 1896 - [Star Film 1] Card Party.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 min 7 s
Size: 	27.5 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	702x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 214 kb/s
BPP: 	0.318
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/1157130C3A4FA50/Georges_Melies_-_1896_-__Star_Film_1__Card_Party.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Georges Méliès – Une partie de cartes AKA Card Party AKA Playing Cards (1896) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
A devil conjures up a dancing woman from a mystical flame.

Quote:
The Pillar of Fire was the first film to be based on H. Rider Haggard’s 1887 novel She: A History of Adventure. Rather than attempting to tell the whole story of the novel, Méliès used one of its characters as inspiration for a trick film, recalling the scene in the novel in which Ayesha stands amid flames. At least six other adaptations of She were made in the silent era.

Georges Melies - 1899 - [Star Film 188] The Pillar of Fire.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 min 5 s
Size: 	20.4 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	698x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 416 kb/s
BPP: 	0.240
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/E7B0341084E1737/Georges_Melies_-_1899_-__Star_Film_188__The_Pillar_of_Fire.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Georges Méliès – La colonne de feu AKA The Pillar of Fire (1899) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
In a traditional “magician” attire, the wizard of illusion and jump cuts, Georges Méliès, says the magic words and conjures up wonders from a plain wooden box.

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Directed by Georges Méliès, the film features a wizard, a Pierrot, and a sculptor in a rapid series of substitution splices. The film is described as “another exercise in the art of the jump-cut,” in the tradition of Méliès’ earlier A Nightmare (Le Cauchemar, 1896) and The Haunted Castle (Le Château hanté, 1897).

Georges Melies - 1898 - [Star Film 153] The Magician.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 min 8 s
Size: 	19.8 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	698x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 228 kb/s
BPP: 	0.222
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/76AE7ADE9F26C87/Georges_Melies_-_1898_-__Star_Film_153__The_Magician.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Georges Méliès – Le magicien AKA The Magician (1898) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Much to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Quote:
Méliès himself plays the magician in the film, which takes advantage of his sense of rhythm, his tendency for elegant gestural movements, and his talent for mime. The Four Troublesome Heads features one of the first known uses of multiple exposure of objects on a black background on film, a special effect Méliès went on to use prolifically. It also marks the first known time Méliès filmed living heads or other body parts separated from the rest of the body, which would become a favorite motif of his. The trick was handled using substitution splices and four separate exposures.

Georges Melies - 1899 - [Star Film 167] The Four Troublesome Heads.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 min 3 s
Size: 	18.2 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	698x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 199 kb/s
BPP: 	0.219
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/D840D86DC34B3C3/Georges_Melies_-_1899_-__Star_Film_167__The_Four_Troublesome_Heads.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Georges Méliès – Un homme de têtes AKA The Four Troublesome Heads AKA Four Heads Are Better Than One (1898) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
A man dressed in red is ushered into an antechamber in a Castle and offered a seat. When he tried to sit down the chair moves to the other side of the room causing the man to fall on the floor. Standing up he strides to the chair but on trying to lift it a Spector materializes in the chair, arises and challenges the man. The man pulls out his sword and lunges at the Spector but it changes into a skeleton. Seeing the change the man tried to grab the skeleton but it changes into an armor clad guard. The man attempts to move the guard but a devil appears and waves the man away. The man recoils from the devil and tries to leave but the Spector reappears. Both it and the devil frighten the man from the antechamber.

Georges Melies - 1897 - [Star Film 96] The Haunted Castle.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	43 s 728 ms
Size: 	19.2 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	694x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 490 kb/s
BPP: 	0.349
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/F63158505DDA358/Georges_Melies_-_1897_-__Star_Film_96__The_Haunted_Castle.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Georges Méliès – Le Château hanté AKA The Haunted Castle (1897) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

This black and white short film is the first known film about football match.

12.7MB | 1m 07s | 694×520 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/60353886290F745/Football.mkv

Language(s):None
Subtitles:None

The post Alexandre Promio – Football (1897) first appeared on Cinema of the World.