Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / EarlyFilms

Go To

1[[WMG:[[center:'''{{Film}}'''\
2[-'''Before 1920''' | [[FilmsOfThe1920s 1920-1929]] | [[FilmsOfThe1930s 1930-1939]] | [[FilmsOfThe1940s 1940-1949]] | [[FilmsOfThe1950s 1950-1959]] | [[FilmsOfThe1960s 1960-1969]] | [[FilmsOfThe1970s 1970-1979]] | [[FilmsOfThe1980s 1980-1989]] | [[FilmsOfThe1990s 1990-1999]] | [[FilmsOfThe2000s 2000-2009]] | [[FilmsOfThe2010s 2010-2019]] | [[FilmsOfThe2020s 2020-2029]] -]]]]]
3
4Films from the time Muybridge used a kinetiscope to make the earliest, most primitive "film" in 1878 until 1920. Many of these films were from the MediaNotes/ThePreHollywoodEra though many of the later films of the era belong to MediaNotes/TheSilentAgeOfHollywood.
5
6----
7[[AC:Early Films (pre-1900)]]
8[[index]]
9* 1874 -- ''Film/ThePassageOfVenus'': a series of photographs of the 1874 transit of ''UsefulNotes/{{Venus}}'', shot with a "photographic revolver".
10* 1888 -- ''Film/RoundhayGardenScene'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7saH58usq4 Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge]]'' -- possibly the first true movies ever, and certainly the oldest known to still exist, were shot by Louis Le Prince on experimental camera.
11[[/index]]
12* 1893-1895 -- William K.L. Dickson, working for UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, shot ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qZa-RLtCU0 Blacksmith Scene]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PaJ1r0udvQ Fred Ott's Sneeze]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hH8BMgpQnI Carmencita]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PfqtorMruo The Great Sandow]]'', and others -- The first commercial movies ever. ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKPj_ww1svk Dickson Experimental Sound Film]]'', the first sound picture, and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpNQJV8KblQ The Execution of Mary Stuart]]'', the first cinematic special effects, were also produced at the studio. In 1897, it [[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters introduced the world to the first pornographic movie]] with ''The Dolorita Passion Dance'' or ''Dolorita in the Passion Dance''. The film was removed from Atlantic City Kinetoscope parlors in 1895, this being perhaps the first instance of film censorship.
13[[index]]
14* 1895 -- [[Film/LumiereFilms The Lumière brothers]][[/index]] shot movies, including ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HVj7kezK98 The Sprinkler Sprinkled]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56a9kb4BvgA Employees Leaving the Factory]]'', and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat]]'', establishing tropes such as the PracticalJoke, FauxDocumentary, and cinematic narrative in general.
15[[index]]
16* 1896 -- ''Film/TheKiss'': the first example of a movie kiss and of a scandal caused by a movie.
17* 1896 -- ''Film/RipVanWinkle'': Possibly the first film with a narrative plot, however brief.
18[[/index]]
19* 1896 -- Creator/GeorgesMelies begins making films, establishing pretty much every SpecialEffects-related trope in the book.
20
21[[AC:1900]]
22[[index]]
23* ''Film/JoanOfArc'' (George Méliès tackles France's heroine)
24
25[[AC:1901]]
26* ''Film/StarTheatre''
27* ''Film/BlueBeard''
28
29[[AC:1902]]
30* ''Film/ATripToTheMoon'' (Méliès' most famous film)
31
32[[AC:1903]]
33* ''Film/{{The Great Train Robbery|1903}}''
34* ''Film/LifeOfAnAmericanFireman''
35
36[[AC:1905]]
37* ''Film/AnInterestingStory''
38* ''Film/TheTrainWreckers''
39
40[[AC:1906]]
41* ''Film/DreamOfARarebitFiend''
42* The first ever feature-length film, ''Film/TheStoryOfTheKellyGang'' (approx. 1 hr), was filmed in Melbourne, Australia.
43* ''Film/ATripDownMarketStreet''
44
45[[AC:1907]]
46* ''[[Film/BenHur1907 Ben-Hur]]'' -- 13-minute adaptation with a pre-stardom William S. Hart as Messala.[[note]]Basically nothing but the part where the procurator gets bonked on the head, and the chariot race.[[/note]]
47* ''Film/TheDancingPig''
48* ''Film/TheHauntedHotel''
49
50[[AC:1909]]
51* ''Film/ACornerInWheat''
52* ''Film/TheCountryDoctor''
53* ''Film/TheCurtainPole''
54* ''Film/TheLonelyVilla''
55* ''[[Film/PrincessNicotine Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy]]''
56
57[[AC:1910]]
58* ''[[Film/{{Frankenstein 1910}} Frankenstein]]''
59* ''[[Film/WhiteFawnsDevotion White Fawn's Devotion]]''
60* ''Film/{{The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz|1910}}''
61
62[[AC:1912]]
63* ''Film/TheBraveryOfDora''
64* ''Film/ACureForPokeritis''
65* ''Film/TheCryOfTheChildren''
66* ''Film/FallingLeaves''
67* ''Film/FromTheMangerToTheCross''
68* ''Film/TheLandBeyondTheSunset''
69* ''Film/TheMusketeersOfPigAlley''
70* ''Film/TheNewYorkHat''
71* ''Film/TheOldWayAndTheNew''
72* ''Film/RobinHood1912''
73
74[[AC:1913]]
75* ''Film/BarneyOldfieldsRaceForALife'', in which RealLife raving champion Barney Oldfield rescues a woman who has been ChainedToARailway.
76* ''Film/TheEvidenceOfTheFilm''
77* ''DerivativeWorks/{{Fantomas}}'' (five-part serial)
78* ''Film/MatrimonysSpeedLimit''
79* ''Film/TheStudentOfPrague''
80* ''Film/{{Suspense}}''
81* ''Film/TrafficInSouls''
82
83[[AC:1914]]
84* ''Film/TheBargain''
85* ''Film/{{Cabiria}}''
86* ''Film/InTheLandOfTheHeadHunters''
87* ''Film/KidAutoRacesAtVenice''
88* ''Film/TheKnockout''
89* ''Film/TheLastOfTheLine''
90* ''Film/MabelsBlunder''
91* ''Film/MabelsStrangePredicament'', in which a newcomer named Creator/CharlieChaplin invents TheTramp
92* ''Film/ThePatchworkGirlOfOz''
93* ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'', in which Pearl White became the TropeMaker for DamselInDistress
94* ''Film/TessOfTheStormCountry''
95* ''Film/TilliesPuncturedRomance'' --Charlie Chaplin EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in which 1) he doesn't wear his Tramp costume and 2) he's the villain
96* ''Literature/UncleTomsCabin''
97[[/index]]
98
99[[AC:1915]]
100* 1915-1919: Creator/CharlieChaplin goes into business for himself, producing and starring in a series of pioneering {{Slapstick}} comedies at Essenay, Mutual, and First National studios, including:
101[[index]]
102** ''Film/TheTramp''
103** ''Film/TheFloorwalker''
104** ''Film/TheVagabond''
105** ''Film/EasyStreet''
106** ''Film/TheCure1917''
107** ''Film/TheImmigrant''
108** ''Film/TheAdventurer''
109** ''Film/ADogsLife''
110** ''Film/ShoulderArms''
111** ''Film/{{Sunnyside}}''
112* ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}'' -- The movie that invented the feature film as we know it. ValuesDissonance to the max today, but the first blockbuster hit (at least, in Hollywood) at the time.
113* ''Film/TheCheat''
114* ''Film/{{Double Trouble|1915}}''
115* ''Film/FanchonTheCricket''
116* ''Film/FattysTintypeTangle''
117* ''Film/{{Filibus}}''
118* ''Film/AFoolThereWas'' -- The film that first popularized the trope of [[TheVamp the Vamp]], as well as named it.
119* ''Film/{{Home|1915}}''
120* ''Film/{{Hypocrites}}''
121* ''Film/TheItalian''
122* ''Film/ThatLittleBandOfGold''
123* ''Film/{{Regeneration}}''
124* ''Film/LesVampires'' -- A crime serial in 10 parts that ran into 1916. Featured criminal gang the Vampires and a Journalist and his friend trying to stop them. One of the longest films ever made, running to over 6 and a half hours.
125
126[[AC:1916]]
127* ''Film/TheCallOfTheCumberlands''
128* ''Film/{{Civilization}}''
129* ''Film/TheCurseOfQuonGwon''
130* ''Film/TheHalfBreed''
131* ''[[Film/HellsHinges Hell's Hinges]]''
132* ''Film/HerDefiance''
133* ''Film/{{Intolerance}}''
134* ''Film/TheMysteryOfTheLeapingFish'', a deeply weird Literature/SherlockHolmes parody that doubles as the most pro-cocaine film ever made
135* ''Film/TheOceanWaif''
136* ''Theatre/SherlockHolmes''
137* ''Film/{{Shoes}}''
138* ''Film/{{Snow White|1916}}'' --The first film version
139* ''Film/{{The Tales Of Hoffmann|1916}}'' --The first [[TheFilmOfThePlay film based on the opera.]]
140* ''Film/WhereAreMyChildren''
141
142[[AC:1917]]
143* ''Film/FortyNineSeventeen''
144* ''Film/TheBlackStork''
145* ''Film/ConeyIsland''
146* ''Film/HisWeddingNight''
147* ''Film/ThePoorLittleRichGirl''
148* ''Film/RebeccaOfSunnybrookFarm''
149* ''Film/TheRoughHouse''
150* ''Literature/TerjeVigen'' - Adapted from the poem of the same name and considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Swedish Cinema.
151* ''Film/WildAndWoolly''
152
153[[AC:1918]]
154* ''Theatre/TheBlueBird''
155* ''Film/BroadwayLove''
156* ''Film/TheCook''
157* ''Film/HeartsOfTheWorld''
158* ''Film/IDontWantToBeAMan''
159* ''Film/{{Mickey}}''
160* ''Film/TheOutlawAndHisWife''
161* ''Film/StellaMaris''
162* ''Film/TarzanOfTheApes''
163
164[[AC:1919]]
165
166* ''Film/AskFather''
167* ''Film/BackToGodsCountry''
168* ''Film/BrokenBlossoms'' -- The most sympathetic portrayal of Asians for decades (despite the {{Yellowface}}), and probably D. W. Griffith's triumph as a director of actors (and with a disturbing story to boot).
169* ''Film/BumpingIntoBroadway''
170* ''Literature/DaddyLongLegs''
171* ''Film/DifferentFromTheOthers'', notable as the first film to argue for tolerance of homosexuality.
172* ''Film/{{The Doll|1919}}''
173* ''Film/DontChangeYourHusband''
174* ''Film/TheDragonPainter''
175* ''Film/FromHandToMouth''
176* ''Film/MaleAndFemale''
177* ''Film/TheMasterMystery''
178* ''Film/TheOysterPrincess''
179* ''Film/MeyerFromBerlin'' -- Vacation comedy by Creator/ErnstLubitsch.
180* ''Film/TheSentimentalBloke'' -- Australian classic, recently re-mastered and available on DVD.
181
182[[AC: The Silent Age of Animation]]
183
184* [[WesternAnimation/ReynaudFilms Charles-Émile Reynaud]] exhibits his pioneering animated films in France. (1892-94)
185* ''WesternAnimation/LittleNemo'' (1911), a ground-breaking animated short from Creator/WinsorMcCay
186* ''Animation/TheCameramansRevenge'' (1912), one of the first examples of StopMotion animation
187* ''WesternAnimation/GertieTheDinosaur'' (1914), Winsor [=McCay=]'s follow-up to ''Little Nemo''
188* ''WesternAnimation/BobbyBumps'' -- series debuted in 1915
189* ''Anime/NamakuraGatana'' -(1917) One the earliest animes.
190* ''WesternAnimation/OutOfTheInkwell'' -- debut of cartoon series in 1918
191* ''WesternAnimation/TheSinkingOfTheLusitania'' -- Winsor [=McCay=] defies the AnimationAgeGhetto
192* ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatOttoMessmer'' -- debuted 1919
193** ''WesternAnimation/FelineFollies'' (1919)
194
195
196[[/index]]

Top