Movies & TV Shows from 1902

Aristocracy, army, elephants and more mark the start of the 1903 Durbar.

Professor Barbenfouillis and five of his colleagues from the Academy of Astronomy travel to the Moon aboard a rocket propelled by a giant cannon. Once on the lunar surface, the bold explorers face the many perils hidden in the caves of the mysterious planet.

"Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587), "Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588, the only extant film in the series), or "La Gigue" (Gaumont #590).

Compilation of 7 short scenes: ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’; ‘Old Mother Hubbard’; ‘Little Miss Muffet’; ‘Goosey Gander’; ‘Jack and Jill’; ‘Old Woman in a Shoe’; ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’. Only the last one is known to have survived and to be available to watch.

One of the two oldest known films made in Poland, with the other being The Return of a Merry Fellow, also made in 1902.

Old woman sews patch on grandson’s trousers while friends jeer.

A bracing fight scene

The opening of this remarkable and mysterious film brings into view a scene in a parlor, with two servants discussing the easiest way to hang four pictures which are leaning against the wall on the floor. The artful butler suggests to the pretty parlor-maid that she should hang the pictures from the step-ladder which he hastens to secure from an adjoining room. In the meantime the maid mysteriously proceeds to hang the pictures herself by walking up the side of the wall, and after accomplishing this strange feat turns a somersault from the wall into a chair.

First narrative polish film. The janitor sweeps the pavement in front of the tenement house. A carriage comes with a rather solidly inserted young man. He is well-dressed but has lost all his strength. Merry Fellow needs help.

A Swiss tourist knocks the head off a negro waiter.

The ornate pavilions of cinematographs, boxing booths and menageries at Hull Fair.

Jesus is forced to carry the cross along the path, but his weakness causes him to sink under the weight of the cross. Simon of Cyrene helps him, the soldiers hit and kick them.

A joyful Pas de Deux, performed by Clara Rasmussen and Margrethe Andersen. Clara Rasmussen/Wieth/Pontoppidan (1883-1975) was to become one of the most famous actresses of Danish silent cinema; one of her most notable performances is in Dreyer’s 'Leaves from Satan’s Book' (1921), in which she plays Siri in the last of the four sections. (Stumfilm.DK)

Survey of the Boer war with reconstructions and actualities.

This picture depicts the eruption of the volcano by which over 30,000 souls were hurled into eternity. The numerous explosions which took place during the eruption are plain to be seen. Thousands upon thousands of tons of molten lava, sand, rocks and steam are thrown high in the air and descend with crushing force upon the unfortunate inhabitants of the doomed city of St. Pierre. This is the worst calamity which occurred since a similar eruption by Mt. Vesuvius when Pompeii was destroyed. (Lubin Catalog)

A young and pretty but indiscreet girl employs her spare time in trying to find out what is going on in the different rooms of a Turkish bath.

In this film, we show the interior of a doctor's office. A patient enters, and judging from the expression on his face, he is in great pain. The doctor tells him that he is troubled with acute indigestion, and immediately places him upon the operating table. He begins his treatment by cutting off the patient's arms and legs with a huge saw. After removing these members, he takes a large knife and makes an incision in the unfortunate's stomach large enough to put his arm in. He then removes such things as bottles, knives and forks, lamps and other articles of furniture from the patient's body ...

The film features, in a double role, Henri Plessis, a famous and established performer in the French entertainment world. The film's attraction for contemporary audiences was to see him playing cards with himself.

Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of the famous fairy tale story of Jack and his magic beanstalk. Borrowing on cinematographic methods reminiscent of 'Georges Melies' , Porter uses animation, double exposure, and trick photography to illustrate the fairy's apparitions, Jack's dream, and the fast growing beanstalk.

This fascinating record of Edwardian Nottingham was filmed from the driver's platform of a tram on a single journey through the city centre between its two main stations. The sequence follows the same route as today's Nottingham Express Transit tramway, taking the viewer along Listergate and Wheelergate into Old Market Square before turning right into Long Row and on into Queen Street.