Movies & TV Shows from 1904

An actuality of the Brock's fireworks factory to celebrate its 40th anniversary organizes. The final shot has two flaming portraits of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, originally presented by Brock's at the coronation in 1902. The film is a cornucopia of colors, as it was originally a hand-painted film. The 2011 restoration has tried to revive the brilliance and the impact of colors through digital reproduction. The original film archival print is at the National Cinema Museum.

Facing a stationary camera, sitting at a desk, a man works busily. Posters of burlesque queens are on the wall behind him. A single woman, followed later by later two others, comes into the office seeking a job. The manager hands each a box with a costume in it and points to dressing rooms. Each of the women has a different reaction when she discovers the nature of her costume, and the busy manager has a distinct response to each of the women as well.

Men working in teams carry buckets of molten material and pour the material into what appear to be molds lined up on the ground.

Numerous women stand at several rows of tables where they appear to be wrapping tape around some devices, presumably coils. Male supervisors walk down the aisles, observing the women's work.

A camera moving forward on an overhead crane gives a traveling view of men working on machinery. Carts carrying parts and pieces of machinery pass by on rails; cranes lift machinery; and men perform their various duties, including hammering objects. (Library of Congress)

People on street outside bunting draped building. VIP's out & photographers take pictures. Park & subway entrance. Old bobby helmets on police as VIP's into subway. Pan over waving people with trolley behind and carriage. Appears to be near city hall. Pan inside sideway. People walking out including well-dressed women. Subway past camera left to right. Ceremony. Subway opening.

Only women are at a resort, until one man arrives. He woos a pretty young widow, and wins her.

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.

A large size view of a pretty baby playing with half-dozen little puppies on the sand at the seashore. The action is very cunning and the surroundings exceedingly attractive. --Biograph

Shows a band of mischievous cowboys being chased by Indians. A number of shots are fired at the pursuing Indians by the cow punchers, and the Indians' arrows are seen landing in the water pretty close to the fleeing men.

What appear to be molds pass some men by on conveyor belts. The men take them off the belt and dump the contents onto the ground. Other men pick up with tongs the parts that have been dumped onto the ground and put them on a pile in the foreground.

Rows of women are shown at tables with winding machines. They wind using material from spools behind them, apparently putting the finished products on the table in front of them. Various supervisory staff, male and female, walk through the aisles, checking the work of the women.

A weary clock-maker dozes off in a chair. While he is asleep, three women suddenly appear in the midst of his shop. They proceed to show the sleeping clock-maker some new kinds of clocks that they know how to make.

The Battle of Liaoyang began on August 29, 1904 and continued until September 1 when the Russians were forced to retreat. On September 6 the Japanese occupied the Yentai Mines to the north of Liaoyang. (The History of the Russo-Japanese War by Sydney Tyler published 1905)

The view from a moving train shows some of the Westinghouse interests and the surrounding areas.

Automobile Race for the Vanderbilt Cup

Georges Melies the magician. Melies removes his own head, puts it in a glass box on a stool, then grows another one. Melies lights up a cigarette and blows smoke at his old head. The head gets payback by levitating above Melies and spewing water on him.

A fairly venturesome piece of filmmaking for the era: Based on the Jules Verne story, the film utilizes a dozen cuts, irised lenses, panning shots and vivid tints to weave an intrepid and exciting story.

Two workers leave boxes of explosives with a push cart street vendor while they visit a bar. They return drunk and accidentally drop a box of nitro powder, causing an explosion that wrecks the block and blows off the vendor’s arm. A policeman shows up to the carnage and tries to replace the vendor’s arm with a severed leg.