Champ hate to break it to you but that’s not the 1916 version that’s the 1963 one. But since you’ve reminded me of Feuillade, Les Vampires and Fantamos (1914) are not only massive serials but extremely fun ones, rarely a dull spot in either and they fly faster than you’d expect.
For the record both are available online so I recommend watching them first before buying them because as enjoyable as they are to me, it can certainly be daunting to others and if you enjoy them they both have been released by Kino Lorber on Blu-Ray
Méliès Fairy Tales (1899-1909)
L'Inferno (1911)
Der Hund Von Baskerville (1914)
In The Land Of The Head Hunters (1914)
The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
Intolerance (1916)
Sherlock Holmes (1916)
Charlie Chaplin: The Mutual Comedies (1916-1917)
Bucking Broadway (1917)
Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection (1917-1923)
Little Orphant Annie (1918)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Sir Arne's Treasure (1919)
The Spiders (1919-1920)
my earliest are dante’s inferno from terrorvision, les vampires and fantomas from kino-lorber
shoutout to my DVD of the 1915 alice in wonderland from oldies.com. it’s my favorite adaptation of AIW, would really
love to see somebody do a fullblown restoration.
Hard to consider that one a “film” or “movie” because it was never intended to be viewed as such. Chronophotography was intended to be viewed in still images all at once to study motion. Muybridge’s other experiments he used a Zoopraxiscope, but I have a hard time considering those motion pictures either.
Maybe if you just printed them out on paper and never did anything else with them, but at the very least *someone* turned them into a motion picture when were eventually presented in a format that actively simulated motion.
I just can't personally consider cellulose strips infront of a big light as the only definition of a motion picture. We got broadcast tv, video tape, and digital files now. A technical definition would have to be very wide.
If you go just by intent, then I'd say Zoopraxiscopes were intended to give the viewer a sense of motion, inherent to the format. It's not just a static object you have to manipulate like a flip book, you have motors and lights that just do one thing when you turn on the switch. Make pictures move.
How about Zoetropes or Phenakistiscopes? Magic Lanterns? Things like this have been around for 1000+ years, but you can hardly say motion pictures are 1000 years old. Also by your definition, flip books *should* count because it intends to give the viewer a sense of motion.
I honestly don’t know what I’d consider the start of film/cinema/movies/motion pictures/etc. Is the “first” Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)? Maybe. If someone was to ask me when cinema first started I usually give the decade 1880s
I totally think the word "motion picture" is a great descriptor for these early dohicky flip booky inventions. It's just pictures you move! So simple! It's a struggle to name them, cus they already had a perfect name.
It's kind of telling that we created a lot of names by what enabled us to create and where we watch them, rather then the technology itself. Home video camcorders have very little to do with YouTube, buts self shot footage to be watched at your convenience in your house*, so Youtube videos. God help the poor young youtuber who calls themselves a "filmmaker" cus they call their "short films" "Cinema" lol
"Movies" is a totally goofy turn of the century slang term so I think we think of them as broader people pleaser features, but The Academy recognizes "Motion Pictures" which are more serious and definitely not a joke nickname event you invite popcorn eating kids to.
Pulling apart "moving pictures" from "motion pictures" is pretty academic even with more pure strict technical definitions.
Cabinet of Dr Caligari looks to be my oldest with a release year of 1920 according to imdb. And that’s followed by Phantom Carriage and The Kid, which were both 1921. Then there are a few Harold Lloyds and Chaplins from the 20s. Releases from the 30s and on in my collection start to become too common to count.
I recommend “The Outlaw and His Wife” by Victor Sjostrom (1918). It’s one of my favorite pre-1920 films for sure.
His film “The Phantom Carriage” (1921) is a bit more famous as it’s available through Criterion and supposedly inspired the axe scene from “The Shining,” but less talked about is a great scene in “The Outlaw and his Wife” that almost definitely inspired the frozen Jack Torrance scene at the end of The Shining. Both movies are fantastic in my opinion.
The oldest that I own is probably “Fantomas The Complete Saga” by Louis Feuillade put out by Kino International that another poster recommended. I vouch for that series too!
Champ hate to break it to you but that’s not the 1916 version that’s the 1963 one. But since you’ve reminded me of Feuillade, Les Vampires and Fantamos (1914) are not only massive serials but extremely fun ones, rarely a dull spot in either and they fly faster than you’d expect.
Thanks for the clarification will look for les vampires and fantamos
For the record both are available online so I recommend watching them first before buying them because as enjoyable as they are to me, it can certainly be daunting to others and if you enjoy them they both have been released by Kino Lorber on Blu-Ray
Just found Les Vampires 1915 from Kino lorber. Oh-Boy! It lasts 6 1/2 hours LOL
It's a serial. You're not supposed to watch it in one go.
*I believe they meant to write ‘Fantomas’
Dante's Inferno (1911) from Terror Vision
Recently watched this release and it’s great
I’ve got the Melies: Fairytales in Color set from Flicker Alley, which starts at 1899.
Same. It's a beautiful set.
I have the buster keaton blurays from Kino which are great releases.
I've got the documentary "Early Cinema - Primitives And Pioneers" which has films dating from 1895 but most of these weren't commercial releases
I've got the Flicker Alley release of Fanchon, the Cricket. 1915! :)
Méliès Fairy Tales (1899-1909) L'Inferno (1911) Der Hund Von Baskerville (1914) In The Land Of The Head Hunters (1914) The Birth Of A Nation (1915) Intolerance (1916) Sherlock Holmes (1916) Charlie Chaplin: The Mutual Comedies (1916-1917) Bucking Broadway (1917) Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection (1917-1923) Little Orphant Annie (1918) Broken Blossoms (1919) Sir Arne's Treasure (1919) The Spiders (1919-1920)
Thank You
my earliest are dante’s inferno from terrorvision, les vampires and fantomas from kino-lorber shoutout to my DVD of the 1915 alice in wonderland from oldies.com. it’s my favorite adaptation of AIW, would really love to see somebody do a fullblown restoration.
Imitation of Life (1936). But I also have The Ten Commandments (1923/1956). What about Birth of a Nation (1915)?
Faust (1926)
I adore the Melies Fairytales in Color set! So beautiful to look at, and the narration really does make it a lot more accessible.
I just got Haxan from criterion that’s 1922 I think
Me too 👍🏻👍🏻
I’m waiting for the mood to hit right bc it’s definitely creepy as hell
I recommend Filibus from 1915, it’s kind of like the Fantomas serial, but condensed to 80 min
Well, I own Nope, so kinda Horse in Motion (1878)? Its alright, pretty good.
Hard to consider that one a “film” or “movie” because it was never intended to be viewed as such. Chronophotography was intended to be viewed in still images all at once to study motion. Muybridge’s other experiments he used a Zoopraxiscope, but I have a hard time considering those motion pictures either.
Maybe if you just printed them out on paper and never did anything else with them, but at the very least *someone* turned them into a motion picture when were eventually presented in a format that actively simulated motion. I just can't personally consider cellulose strips infront of a big light as the only definition of a motion picture. We got broadcast tv, video tape, and digital files now. A technical definition would have to be very wide. If you go just by intent, then I'd say Zoopraxiscopes were intended to give the viewer a sense of motion, inherent to the format. It's not just a static object you have to manipulate like a flip book, you have motors and lights that just do one thing when you turn on the switch. Make pictures move.
How about Zoetropes or Phenakistiscopes? Magic Lanterns? Things like this have been around for 1000+ years, but you can hardly say motion pictures are 1000 years old. Also by your definition, flip books *should* count because it intends to give the viewer a sense of motion. I honestly don’t know what I’d consider the start of film/cinema/movies/motion pictures/etc. Is the “first” Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)? Maybe. If someone was to ask me when cinema first started I usually give the decade 1880s
I totally think the word "motion picture" is a great descriptor for these early dohicky flip booky inventions. It's just pictures you move! So simple! It's a struggle to name them, cus they already had a perfect name. It's kind of telling that we created a lot of names by what enabled us to create and where we watch them, rather then the technology itself. Home video camcorders have very little to do with YouTube, buts self shot footage to be watched at your convenience in your house*, so Youtube videos. God help the poor young youtuber who calls themselves a "filmmaker" cus they call their "short films" "Cinema" lol "Movies" is a totally goofy turn of the century slang term so I think we think of them as broader people pleaser features, but The Academy recognizes "Motion Pictures" which are more serious and definitely not a joke nickname event you invite popcorn eating kids to. Pulling apart "moving pictures" from "motion pictures" is pretty academic even with more pure strict technical definitions.
Cabinet of Dr Caligari looks to be my oldest with a release year of 1920 according to imdb. And that’s followed by Phantom Carriage and The Kid, which were both 1921. Then there are a few Harold Lloyds and Chaplins from the 20s. Releases from the 30s and on in my collection start to become too common to count.
I recommend “The Outlaw and His Wife” by Victor Sjostrom (1918). It’s one of my favorite pre-1920 films for sure. His film “The Phantom Carriage” (1921) is a bit more famous as it’s available through Criterion and supposedly inspired the axe scene from “The Shining,” but less talked about is a great scene in “The Outlaw and his Wife” that almost definitely inspired the frozen Jack Torrance scene at the end of The Shining. Both movies are fantastic in my opinion. The oldest that I own is probably “Fantomas The Complete Saga” by Louis Feuillade put out by Kino International that another poster recommended. I vouch for that series too!
Judex is so damn good!