Billy Bitzer

Billy Bitzer

Nascimento : 1872-04-21, Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA

Morte : 1944-04-29

História

Gottfried Wilhelm "Billy" Bitzer (April 21, 1872 – April 29, 1944) was a pioneering American cinematographer notable for his close association with D. W. Griffith. In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild named him one of the ten most influential cinematographers in history. Bitzer, it is said, "developed camera techniques that set the standard for all future motion pictures." Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Bitzer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Perfil

Billy Bitzer

Filmes

The Camera Speaks
Story
In this short film, an elderly cameraman and his camera reminisce about their days shooting silent films and news stories.
Hotel Variety
Director of Photography
A New York City boarding house for vaudeville performers, none of whom have any steady work....
The Battle of the Sexes
Director of Photography
Gum-chewing frizzy-haired golddigger Marie Skinner cooks up a scheme with her lover Babe Winsor, a jazz hound, to fleece a portly middle-aged real estate tycoon, William Judson. Marie moves into Judson's apartment building and contrives to meet and seduce him, plying him with compliments, music, swoons, décolletage, and batted eyes. When his loyal wife (and their two children) see him out catting with Marie at a night club, mom's devastated and confronts him. He moves out. Babe wants Marie to sell Judson worthless bonds. Will mom commit suicide? Will sis shoot the floozy? Will pops figure out he's being a fool?
The Midnight Girl
Director of Photography
A corrupt art patron finds himself in love with the same girl as his stepson.
America
Director of Photography
The story of a family caught up in the American Revolutionary War.
The White Rose
Director of Photography
A wealthy young Southern aristocrat, Joseph, graduates from a seminary and, before he takes charge of his assigned parish, decides to go out and see what "the real world" is all about. He winds up in New Orleans and finds himself attracted to a poor, unsophisticated orphan girl, Bessie. One thing leads to another, and before long Bessie finds that she is pregnant with Joseph's child.
Órfãs da Tempestade
Director of Photography
França, na véspera da Revolução Francesa. Henriette e Louise cresceram juntas como irmãs. Quando a praga que tira a vida de seus pais causa a cegueira de Louise, eles decidem viajar para Paris em busca de uma cura, mas são separados quando um aristocrata lascivo cruza seu caminho.
Inocente Pecadora
Director of Photography
Anna (Lillian Gish) é uma menina do campo pobre e ingênua, que é iludida e acaba por entrar em um falso casamento com Lennox (Lowell Sherman), um homem rico e mulherengo. Ela fica grávida e ele a abandona, mas o bebê morre. Depois, ela arranja emprego e acolhimento em uma fazenda. O filho do dono se apaixona por ela, mas as lembranças do seu último relacionamento farão com que um novo envolvimento amoroso seja difícil.
The Love Flower
Director of Photography
A man murders his wife's lover and escapes with his daughter to the South Pacific. A detective pursues him, joined by a young man who eventually falls in love with the daughter.
The Idol Dancer
Director of Photography
A religious zealot and his nephew are thrown together on a South Seas Island with an alcoholic beach comber and a native dancer. A battle to see who will "civilize" whom ensues.
The Greatest Question
Director of Photography
Young Nellie Jarvis, daughter of a wandering couple, witnesses the murder of a woman by a man and his wife. Years later, "Little Miss Yes'm", as Nellie is known, returns to the area as an orphan. Locals Mr. and Mrs. Hilton, though poverty stricken, take her into their family. Fully integrated with the loving Hiltons, she wishes to relieve them of their financial strain. Nellie travels to a nearby farmhouse to gain employment from depraved Martin Cain and his paranoid wife.
Scarlet Days
Director of Photography
Rosie Nell, a woman of disreputable dance halls in early lawless California, is wrongly charged with the murder of one of her fellow entertainers. Because her daughter, who knows nothing of her mother's station in life, is to return the next day from her school in the east, Rosie is granted three days of grace to be spent in company with her daughter at a nearby cabin. The three days begin happily enough, thanks to the serenades of heroic bandit Alvarez and the poetry of romantic Randolph. But Bagley, the dance hall manager, has seen the daughter and has determined to make her his own.
The Mother and the Law
Director of Photography
After the relatively low box office takings of 'Intolerance', D. W. Griffith would revisit his epic film three years later by releasing two of the film's interlocking stories as standalone features, with some new additional footage. The second of these was 'The Mother and the Law', which demonstrates how crime, moral puritanism, and conflicts between ruthless capitalists and striking workers help ruin the lives of marginal Americans.
The Fall of Babylon
Director of Photography
After the relatively low box office takings of 'Intolerance', D. W. Griffith would revisit his epic film three years later by releasing two of the film's interlocking stories as standalone features, with some new additional footage. The first of the two was 'The Fall of Babylon', which depicts the conflict between Prince Belshazzar of Babylon and Cyrus the Great of Persia.
True Heart Susie
Director of Photography
Susie secretly loves her neighbor, William Jenkins, but neither, it seems, can confess their feelings for each other.
Lírio Partido
Director of Photography
Em Londres, um jovem chinês se envolve com uma pobre moça que sofre nas mãos de seu pai abusivo.
The Girl Who Stayed at Home
Director of Photography
Ralph visits France with his father, a shipbuilder, and falls in love with Blossom, the granddaughter of his father's friend, a Civil war veteran not reconciled with the Union. Blossom, however, is engaged to a French nobleman. When the war breaks out, Ralph enlists, while his brother Jim, a heartbreaker, is drafted.
A Romance of Happy Valley
Director of Photography
John Logan leaves his parents and sweetheart in bucolic Happy Valley to make his fortune in the city. Those he left behind become miserable and beleaguered in his absence, but after several years he returns, a wealthy man. But his embittered father, not recognizing him for who he is, plans to murder the newly- arrived "stranger" for his money.
The Greatest Thing in Life
Director of Photography
A lost film. Leo Peret has a small quiet tobacco shop in Greenwich Village. Edward Livingston, a wealthy young clubman and man-about-town, comes in frequently ostensibly to buy cigarettes but in reality to talk to the daughter Jeannette, and he is soon in love with the little shop girl. Leo is homesick for his native France, but lacks the funds to make the passage. Edward, learning of their plight, sends $1,000 with a note saying that the money is payment for a good deed. Leo accepts the money and he and Jeannette embark at once.
The Great Love
Director of Photography
Jim Young of Youngstown, Pennsylvania, reads of the German war atrocities and decides to enlist in the British army, thus becoming a forerunner of the American forces that are subsequently to leave for the battlefields of Europe. He begins active training at a camp outside London. While enjoying a few hours of leave, he meets Susie Broadplains , a young woman from Australia. She is flattered by his attentions and their friendship soon blossoms into love. However German plotters plan to destroy an arsenal at night and Sir Roger is inveigled into driving an automobile along a London road with its lights turned skyward to guide the Zeppelins. Jim, wounded and home on furlough, detects Sir Roger on the lonely road, follows and traps him in his cottage. Sir Roger turns his pistol on himself rather than be taken alive. Susie finds the "great love" in service for the cause of democracy and her country, with a greater love in sight.
Hearts of the World
Director of Photography
A group of youngsters grow up and love in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered. The German army invades and occupies village, bringing both destruction and torture. The young people of the village resist, some successfully, others tragically, until French troops retake the town.
Intolerância
Director of Photography
A intolerância vista e analisada em quatro diferentes estágios da História: na Babilônia, onde uma garota vê-se entre o ódio religioso, levando uma cidade à ruína; na Judeia, onde os hipócritas condenam Jesus Cristo; na Paris de 1572, no Massacre da Noite de São Bartolomeu; e, finalmente, na América, onde reformadores acabam com a vida de um jovem casal.
O Nascimento de Uma Nação
Director of Photography
Diversos pontos da história norte-americana são repassados sob a história de dois irmãos, chamados Phil e Ted Stoneman, que acabam em lados opostos a uma família amiga, os Camerons, durante a Guerra Civil.
The Avenging Conscience
Director of Photography
Thwarted by his despotic uncle from continuing his love affair, a young man's thoughts turn dark as he dwells on ways to deal with his uncle. Becoming convinced that murder is merely a natural part of life, he kills his uncle and hides the body. However, the man's conscience awakens; Paranoia sets in and nightmarish visions begin to haunt him.
The Escape
Director of Photography
A dramatic comparison between the mating habits of animals and the way humans choose their own partners. The film is now considered to be a lost film.
Home, Sweet Home
Director of Photography
John Howard Payne leaves home and begins a career in the theater. Despite encouragement from his mother and his sweetheart, Payne begins to lead a life of dissolute habits, and this soon leads to ruin and misery. In deep despair, he thinks of better days, and writes a song that later provides inspiration to several others in their own times of need.
Brute Force
Cinematography
A thin gent in formal wear, amid a club or party, reads a book about primitive man after he's ignored by a pretty lady. We see the book enacted: Weakhands loses his girlfriend to Bruteforce, but chances upon a design for a weapon to vanquish his rival and win her back. His tribe sees this and sets him up as their leader. With the club, he fends off various creatures (a winged lizard, a snake, a dinosaur) and a rival tribe led by Monkeywalk. The women even manage to repel an attack. But the rival tribe discovers the secret of the club themselves, and capture the women. Weakhands, sitting in despair, chances upon a new weapon: the bow and arrow.
Judith of Bethulia
Director of Photography
Griffith adapts the story of the Apocryphal Book of Judith to the screen. During the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia by the Assyrian tyrant Holofernes, a widow named Judith forms a plan to stop the war as her people suffer in starvation, nearly ready to surrender.
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
Director of Photography
Two young girls are sent away to live with their uncle, which sets off a chain of events resulting in an Indian attack on the town.
Two Men of the Desert
Director of Photography
The young authoress had come to the edge of the desert for her mother's sake. There she met the two young prospectors and a romance began. But the men were about to go across the desert, where they had heard rumors of gold. They decided to play square and before going determined to let the coin decide who should ask the young authoress the all-important question. The flip of the coin decided the older should try his luck first. He learned the girl did not love him. But the other she promised to marry when he should return from the gold lands, and the care of her sick mother, who would then be restored to health, should no longer interfere with her happiness. The young partners soon reached the other side of the desert, where success came to them far beyond their expectations.
An Indian's Loyalty
Director of Photography
Suspected of theft, the Indian was discharged on the ranch-hand's accusation, but the foreman's suspicions against the hand were confirmed in time to reinstate the Indian. In gratitude the Indian captured the thief with the ranchero's money and saved the girl as well.
The Mothering Heart
Director of Photography
A young couple struggle to get ahead, the wife always assuaging the troubles of her melancholy husband. As he climbs the ladder of success, he abandons the homely values and begins an affair with a beautiful woman. His wife leaves him, returning to her mother's home where she bears a child. When the husband is abandoned by his lady friend, remorse drives him to find his wife.
Olaf—An Atom
Director of Photography
Broken by grief after his mother's death, Olaf becomes a wanderer. He is treated cruelly until he is given a meal by a woman at the homestead where she lives with her husband and baby. Olaf is able to return her kindness when he overhears a plot to rob the settlers of their home. He alerts the couple and delays the would-be thieves long enough for the husband to file a claim on his land. Olaf is injured by the claim jumpers but he recovers, alone and forgotten by those he has helped. He then moves aimlessly along.
The Wanderer
Director of Photography
A little over six minutes survive of this Biograph short. Not to be confused with another Biograph short, Olaf- An Atom (1913, starring Harry Carey, later re-released as The Wanderer), a film not directed by Griffith.
The Lady and the Mouse
Director of Photography
The question is, would the young tramp really have fallen in love with the groceryman's daughter if he had not caught her in the heart struggle? Be that as it may, she could not find it in her to drown the unwelcome visitor to the pantry, so she let it go and the silent little drama witnessed by the tramp greatly impressed him. Not so the strict aunt, she declared the whole thing to be in exact accordance with everything else in the family. Their hearts ran away with their heads. That was why they lost money on credit, could not pay off the mortgage and send the sick sister to a better climate. As for the tramp, they had no business to take him in. He could not pay for his keep. But the tramp surprised them all.
The Little Tease
Director of Photography
The supposition was that she was born a tease, for from her first teeth to the time she was almost grown, she vented her witcheries on her unsuspecting parents and the wild things of her mountain home. But that was before the man from the valley lost his way and later found it back again, bearing away the little tease to the valley. While she suffered the qualms of broken faith, her father passed through a like struggle, for he felt the precepts of the "beloved book" had failed him. He closed the door of his cabin upon the world and the light from his window, lighting the wayfarer over the mountain path, disappeared. The struggle over, it came hack in its place in time to beckon the little tease as she left the valley behind.
Near To Earth
Director of Photography
This is the story of Gato, an Italian immigrant, who lives with his wife, Marie, and his younger brother, Giuseppe, on a small truck farm in the west. Gato becomes so intent on his work that he neglects to show his wife the little attentions she demands. A foppish wandering Italian, Sandro, sees in this an opportunity to work his ends, but is prevented by the timely interference of Giuseppe.
Near To Earth
Camera Operator
This is the story of Gato, an Italian immigrant, who lives with his wife, Marie, and his younger brother, Giuseppe, on a small truck farm in the west. Gato becomes so intent on his work that he neglects to show his wife the little attentions she demands. A foppish wandering Italian, Sandro, sees in this an opportunity to work his ends, but is prevented by the timely interference of Giuseppe.
The Unwelcome Guest
Director of Photography
Just before she dies, an elderly married woman stashes the horde of money she's secretly accumulated beneath the false bottom of an old shipping trunk. After her death, her husband, believing himself penniless, has to leave their old home and move in with his son's family, where he's treated with no respect or consideration. Also on the scene is a newly-hired kindly young housekeeper. She and the old gentleman become close friends and eventually run away together (taking the old shipping trunk with them).
Broken Ways
Director of Photography
In this story the young wife concerned is called upon to solve a rather momentous question. After separating from her husband, whom she has discovered to be a brute and a criminal, she is about to give herself to another man, believing her husband dead, when he appears before her fleeing from justice. Shall she deliver him to the law or surrender to his claims? She yields in one instance, but not in the other. Then justice intervenes.
The Massacre
Director of Photography
The story of the massacre of an Indian village, and the ensuing retaliation.
The Burglar’s Dilemma
Director of Photography
In this latter day Cain and Abel story, a jealous brother strikes down his sibling just as a young burglar is about to enter the house. The jealous brother summons police, who then charge the intruder with murder.
The New York Hat
Director of Photography
To fulfill a dying mother's bequest for her daughter, the town pastor purchases the daughter a stylish hat, and gossip spreads through the town.
My Baby
Director of Photography
When the double wedding takes two daughters away from the old man at once, the youngest, now the only one left, in outraged spirit promises never to leave her father, but soon she too is departing for a new home. Then comes a cold hard fact of life. The son-in-law claims his right to make a home alone for his wife. In his bitterness and anger, the father denies them both the house. Several years later the lonely old man meets at the gate a babe in arms. When he learns whose baby it is, heart hunger craves another sight, and sought, brings with it the only natural result.
Os Mosqueteiros de Pig Alley
Director of Photography
História de uma situação envolvendo troca de favores entre gangsters e um casal do subúrbio. Um dos primeiros filmes com temática gangster.
The Painted Lady
Director of Photography
A lonely young woman lives with her strict father who forbids her to wear make-up. One day at an ice cream social, she meets a young man you seems interested in her. However, unknown to her, he is a burglar who is only interested in breaking into her father's house. One night she is awakened by a noise.
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
Director of Photography
The two brothers and their adopted daughter of the household grew up from childhood together. The girl and the younger brother were childhood sweethearts. His elder brother was considered the bad man and dead shot of the hills. The younger brother has been living in the valley for a long time and returns home to his family. He is now refined, educated, and, of course, a revelation to the little girl, who, though betrothed to the elder brother, is strongly attracted by him. Hence there is a renewal of childhood affection which the elder brother does not take kindly to.
So Near, Yet So Far
Director of Photography
It's love at first sight for the Boy, but obstacles-- namely shyness, and the temerity of other suitors-- place themselves in the way of his love. Unknowingly, the Boy and the young woman of his fancy both stay at the home of mutual friends-- But all is not well, as robbers lurk outside the house.
Friends
Director of Photography
The orphan Dora is courted by two different gold miners.
An Unseen Enemy
Director of Photography
The physician's death orphans his two adolescent daughters. Their older brother is able to convert some of the doctor's small estate to cash. But it is late in the day, and with the banks closed he stores the money in his father's household safe. The slatternly housekeeper, aware of the money, enlists a criminal acquaintance to crack the safe. She attempts to get into the adjacent room where the sisters tremble in fear, but finds that the door is locked. The drunken housekeeper menaces them by brandishing a gun through a hole in the wall.
The School Teacher and the Waif
Director of Photography
Nora, the waif, is forced to attend school. She warms to her teacher for the way that he defends her against the taunts of some of the students, but when she's made to wear a dunce cap, she flees the schoolhouse in shame. Unsupervised by her alcoholic father, Nora becomes a determined truant, wandering the town during school hours. There she catches the attention of a huckster, who convinces her that they will run away and be married. The schoolmaster, meanwhile, preoccupied by Nora's absence, leaves his other students to go find her. He encounters her at a crossroads, being spirited away by the huckster, and calls the man's bluff by saying that he'll find them a minister.
Lena and the Geese
Director of Photography
A first-born baby girl, is sent away and placed in the care of Gretchen, a trusted peasant woman, who is the widowed mother of a child about the same age. The two children grow up as sisters. Later, upon her deathbed, the noble lady repents and sends for her child to reinstate her. Gretchen takes this opportunity to make a great lady of her own daughter Lena, the goose girl, by sending her to court instead of the real heiress. Hence Lena is taken before the noble lady as she breathes her last, happy in the belief that she has made reparation. Lena is now a great lady, but the title does not fit well. She longs to be back with Gretchen and her "geeses".
A Temporary Truce
Director of Photography
A Mexican is thrown out of a bar by a young prospector and swears to get even. Later he kidnaps the prospector's wife. In the meantime a group of drunkards shoot and kill an old Indian man. His son (Robert Harron) vows revenge and asks the tribal chief for help. The chief, however, knows better and tells him that revenge is useless. Robert Harron disobeys and mobilizes all young warriors for battle. The plot thickens. The prospector and the Mexican, who holds his wife captive, start shooting each other. However, when the Indians attack, these two make a temporary truce and join forces against the common enemy.
A Beast at Bay
Director of Photography
Mary Pickford as "The Young Woman", is quite taken with Edwin August; in fact, he is her "ideal". But Mr. August's refusal to get mixed up in a street brawl makes him look like a coward to Ms. Pickford. Meanwhile, convict Alfred Paget has escaped from prison; and, he is "A Beast at Bay". While Pickford and August go for a ride in her automobile, criminal Paget ambushes one of his guards, taking the man's clothing and gun. Pickford drops off August, still arguing he is a coward, and drives off. Alone, Pickford gets out of her car to retrieve a fallen garment; then, on-the-lam Paget moves in to carjack her. From a distance, August witnesses Pickford being taken at gunpoint - can he save his girl, and prove he's not a coward?
A Lodging for the Night
Director of Photography
Dick Logan, a young writer, stops at a little border town and takes lodging at the Mexican Inn. Two tramps see the amount of money he has and plan to steal it. In the town he befriends a Mexican girl by stopping her uncle from beating her for having broken a water jar. Retiring to his room, he is awakened by the two tramps breaking into his room. He steals out and gets lodging at a nearby house, which happens to be the home of the Mexican girl and her uncle. The tramps follow him and try again. The girl, however, saves him from harm, and it looks as if Dick had found a real heroine for a real romance.
The Lesser Evil
Director of Photography
A young woman's peaceful existence is shattered when she is abducted by the crew of a boat of smugglers, who then also turn against their captain.
One Is Business, the Other Crime
Director of Photography
Griffith intercuts between the lives of two couples married on the same day. One couple is rich, the other poor. Time passes, and in desperation over joblessness, the poor husband attempts to burgle a home, only to be captured at gunpoint by the mistress of the house. It is the home of the rich couple. While holding the poor intruder at gunpoint, the rich wife accidentally discovers evidence implicating her own husband in a bribery scheme.
The Girl and Her Trust
Director of Photography
A train-station telegraphist warns the next station of approaching bandits.
The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch
Director of Photography
The Goddess, the prettiest and best natured girl that ever graced that little mining town, meets the tenderfoot prospector and leaves him another worshiper of her. His chances, however, are slim for Blue-grass Pete has won her affections, he having at an opportune moment saved her from the fangs of a snake which was about to attack her.
Iola's Promise
Director of Photography
Iola, the little Indian girl, is held captive by a gang of cutthroats but is soon rescued by Jack Harper, a prospector. She is truly grateful to Jack, and regards him as something different from other white people. Jack's sweetheart and her father are travellers in a wagon-train headed for this place, and, not having much luck so far, he is somewhat gloomy. Iola learns the reason, and promises to help him find gold. "Will you?" he says, "Yes." "Cross your heart?" This cross-your-heart action mystifies Iola. She thinks it is a sort of tribe insignia and tells her people that "Crossheart" people are all right. Iola surely pays her debt of gratitude, not only in finding gold, but in giving her life to protect Jack's sweetheart from her own people.
The Sunbeam
Director of Photography
Set in a tenement, a lonely confirmed bachelor occupies a room across the hall from a dour spinster. Children run amok in the hallways playing pranks on the two. A little girl from the floor above, now alone in the world, brings the pair together and brightens their lives.
The Sands of Dee
Cinematography
A young girl who lives by the sea with her parents, is the object of one fellows affection. One day she meets a wily artist painting on the beach, he seduces the young girl and gives her a ring, with the promise of marriage. When the young admiring fellow comes to propose, she proudly announces her engagement to the artist. Shocked he leaves and her parents demand meeting her husband to be. She goes to bring him home, and finds he already has a sophisticated fiancée. Distraught she hurries home, and when her father realizes what she has done, he orders her out of the house. As she wanders despondent along the sea, the young fellow who has found out about her betrayal, immediately goes to see her. Finding she has been disowned by her father, he goes looking for her...
The Mender of Nets
Director of Photography
A young woman who works mending fishermen's nets is engaged to be married. But her fiancé has an old love who refuses to let him go. Further, his former girlfriend has a brother who is willing to use violence to protect his sister's honor.
The Miser's Heart
Director of Photography
Thieves decide to steal the money an old miser has hidden away. He refuses to open the safe for them, so they threaten to kill a little girl who lives in his building.
The Battle
Director of Photography
Union soldiers march off to battle amid cheering crowds. After the battle turns against the Union Army, one soldier runs away, hiding in his girlfriend's house. Ashamed of his cowardice, he finds his courage and crosses enemy lines to bring help to his trapped comrades.
The Long Road
Director of Photography
Edith enters a convent after losing her fiancé to someone else. Years later, Edith finds him again, now poverty-stricken, and secretly helps his family.
Italian Blood
Director of Photography
In the little Italian home the wife feels she is neglected and apparently it seems that her husband's love is growing cold, for he has become decidedly indifferent. She, therefore, plans with her cousin to arouse his love through jealousy. At an Italian picnic, after repeated vain efforts to draw her husband's attentions toward her, she starts off with her cousin, passing in view of her husband. His fiery nature is violently aroused with jealousy, and rushing home in a towering rage, would have wreaked disaster to the entire family, for his terrible suspicion poisons his mind even against his two little children. He learns the truth, however, and realizes now to what extreme the result of his neglect would have driven him.
Swords and Hearts
Director of Photography
A poor girl is secretly in love with a wealthy young planter.
The Rose of Kentucky
Director of Photography
A farmer takes in a young orphan after her mother's death and sends her off to school. After she's grown, he encourages her to consider his younger brother as a husband. When the younger brother proves to be a coward, she chooses the older brother instead.
The Last Drop of Water
Director of Photography
A wagon train heading west across the great desert runs out of water, and is attacked by Indians. One man -- their last hope -- is sent out to find water.
The Primal Call
Director of Photography
A young woman who is engaged to a millionaire she doesn't love meets and falls in love with a rough sailor.
Enoch Arden
Director of Photography
Moving Picture World described the film: "There is a small need to describe this subject as the poem of Lord Tennyson is so well known, so suffice it to say that this Biograph subject is an unusually faithful portrayal of that beautiful romance of Enoch Arden, Annie Lee and Philip Ray, taken in scenes of rare beauty".
Enoch Arden: Part II
Director of Photography
Annie remains faithful to her husband, Enoch, even though he's been lost at sea for many years. Finally her grown children convince her to marry Philip, her former suitor. Enoch is rescued from the deserted isle where he has been stranded, and returns home. He discovers Annie's new life, and decides not to interrupt her happiness.
Enoch Arden: Part I
Director of Photography
Enoch Arden, a humble fisherman, marries Annie Lee. He signs on as a sailor to make more money to support their growing family. A storm wrecks his ship, but Enoch swims to a deserted island. Annie waits vainly for his return.
The Lonedale Operator
Director of Photography
A young woman takes over her sick father's role as telegraph operator at a railway station, and has to deal with a team intent on train robbery.
Fisher Folks
Director of Photography
A crippled girl marries a fisherman, who also has eyes for the town flirt.
His Trust Fulfilled
Director of Photography
Continuing where His Trust (1911) leaves off, George takes care of his deceased master's daughter after her mother's death. He sacrifices his own meager savings to give the girl a good life, until the money runs out and he tries to steal money from the girl's rich cousin.
His Trust
Director of Photography
A Confederate officer is called off to war. He leaves his wife and daughter in the care of George, his faithful Negro servant. After the officer is killed in battle, George continues in his caring duties, faithful to his trust.
When a Man Loves
Director of Photography
Mr. Bach, a wealthy man, visits the scenes of his boyhood days in his auto and meets farmer Brown, his boyhood friend. Brown is the father of a very pretty daughter named Tessie. Bach becomes deeply smitten with the artless little country lass, and secretly hopes to win her. Tessie, however, has a host of admirers in the little village, the favored one being John Watson.
The Lesson
Director of Photography
Short drama about the commandment "honour your father and your mother".
Sunshine Sue
Director of Photography
A country girl follows a city suitor, but is left alone and must fend for herself.
The Fugitive
Director of Photography
Two Johns, a Confederate and an Union soldier, leave their families to go to the front. After a skirmish they end up separated from their respective sides, the Union soldier shoots the Confederate, but he has to escape and look for refuge in the house of his enemy.
Waiter No. 5
Director of Photography
After conducting a raid on a Rebel camp, a Czarist officer discovers that his wife has joined the revolutionaries. Out of loyalty to his wife, the officer resigns his commission and escapes with her to America. Several years later, the ex-officer is gainfully employed as a waiter in a Russian restaurant. For the sake of his grown son, who is engaged to marry a wealthy socialite, our hero pretends to be a man of great wealth and prestige. The truth is revealed in the final scene, but "Waiter Number 5" is saved from disgrace by the timely arrival of his former superior officer.
The Iconoclast
Director of Photography
A printer, drinking excessively and neglectful of his family obligations, is fired from his job when he offends his wealthy employer and his employer’s guests as they tour the printworks. Seeking revenge, the dismissed employee enters his former employer’s house with the intention of shooting him. There he sees the employer and his severely disabled daughter, and recognizes the strong emotional bond between father and daughter. This convincing demonstration of affection brings the printer to his senses. He asks pardon, is reinstated in his old job, and becomes a model worker, husband, and father.
Rose o' Salem Town
Director of Photography
Typical morality tale has a Deacon coming onto a "wild child" (Dorothy West) but after she rejects him he goes back into town saying that the girl and her mother are witches.
Wilful Peggy
Director of Photography
Peggy is a high-spirited young woman from a poor family. One day she catches the eye of a wealthy lord, who proposes marriage and wants to introduce her into his social circle. But complications arise when the lord's nephew also becomes attracted to Peggy.
The Usurer
Director of Photography
A wealthy, callous moneylender finds a terrifying way to learn about money's limitations.
The House with Closed Shutters
Director of Photography
During the Civil War a young soldier loses his nerve in battle and runs away to his home to hide; his sister puts on his uniform, takes her brother's place in the battle, and is killed. Their mother, not wanting the shameful truth to become known, closes all the shutters (hence the film's title) and keeps her son's presence a secret for many years, though two boyhood chums stumble upon the truth...
A Flash of Light
Director of Photography
An experiment goes wrong and blinds a newly married chemist. The chemist's wife does not want to take on the burden of caring for the blind chemist, and her younger sister take her place.
What the Daisy Said
Director of Photography
Two sisters want to know whether there is romance in their future. One sister pulls the petals off of a flower, while the other has her fortune told by a gypsy. When the gypsy tells the fortune so as to serve his own purposes, complications soon develop.
In the Border States
Director of Photography
During the Civil War, a father living in a border state leaves to join the Union Army. After he leaves, Confederate troops forage on his property, where a soldier encounters one of his daughters. The father himself is wounded on a hazardous mission and must run for his life, pursued by Confederate soldiers.
Ramona
Director of Photography
Ramona, a young girl growing up on her adoptive mother's rancho in California, falls in love with the Indian lad Alessandro. When Ramona is denied permission to marry Alessandro, the two lovers elope, only to find a life of great hardship and unhappiness amidst the bigotry and greed of the white landowners.
O Mar Imutável
Director of Photography
In this story set at a seaside fishing village and inspired by a Charles Kingsley poem, a young couple's happy life is turned about by an accident. The husband, although saved from drowning, loses his memory. A child is on the way, and soon a daughter is born to his wife. We watch the passage of time, as his daughter matures and his wife ages. The daughter becomes a lovely young woman, herself ready for marriage. One day on the beach, the familiarity of the sea and the surroundings triggers a return of her father's memory, and we are reminded that although people age and change, the sea and the ways of the fisherfolk remain eternal.
The Honor of His Family
Director of Photography
An old colonel is proud as a peacock: his son leads a group of volunteers in the American Civil War. Untill one day his son returns home as a deserter.
The Day After
Director of Photography
Mr. and Mrs. Hilton throw a New Year's Eve party. They agree not to drink the punch themselves, but as guests begin to arrive their resolve weakens, and soon they are both cavorting drunkenly. Next morning Mr. Hilton, feeling very sick, is conscience-stricken over his drunkenness and his behavior with another woman. He fears to face his wife until he discovers that she feels just as guilty herself.
To Save Her Soul
Cinematography
Agnes, a singer in a country church, is practicing one day when a vaudeville manager hears her and offers her a job. Over the objections of the curate who loves her, she accepts the offer and goes to the city. Later the curate goes to hear Agnes perform and, fearing that her soul is being corrupted by show business, he asks her to return to the small town with him. When she refuses, he is prepared to kill her in order to protect the purity of her soul. This brings about her change of heart, and together they return to the little church.
A Trap for Santa Claus
Director of Photography
The children of a household attempt to capture Santa, but they catch something else entirely.
A Corner in Wheat
Director of Photography
Por capricho, um magnata ganancioso decide dominar o mercado mundial de trigo. Isso dobra o preço do pão, forçando os produtores de grãos a entrar em filas de caridade e outros ainda mais na pobreza. O filme contrasta as diferenças entre a vida de quem trabalha para cultivar o trigo e a vida do homem que se envolve em sua venda com fins lucrativos.
The Redman's View
Director of Photography
An Indian village is forced to leave its land by white settlers, and must make a long and weary journey to find a new home. The settlers make one young Indian woman stay behind. This woman is thus separated from her sweetheart, whose elderly father needs his help on the journey ahead
Through the Breakers
Director of Photography
A society couple, neglect their young daughter in favor of their social life. When the girl becomes seriously ill, the father realizes the errors of his ways and stays home with her, demanding his wife do likewise. She sneaks out to a dance and the child takes a turn for the worse. By the time she returns home the child is dead. After her husband leaves her, the mother realizes her selfishness and begs forgiveness at her daughter's grave.
The Mountaineer's Honor
Director of Photography
A mountain girl is seduced by a traveler from the valley. Her brother tracks the seducer down and kills him. In retaliation, the sheriff captures the brother and prepares to lynch him. Mother intervenes and, to save her son the disgrace of hanging, shoots him.
Lines of White on a Sullen Sea
Director of Photography
Soon after their engagement, Bill goes to sea, and Emily vows to stay true until his return. Unknown to her, Bill marries another woman from a different port. Emily waits faithfully for six years, finally becoming dangerously ill. When Bill suddenly appears in town with his family, Joe, who has loved Emily all along, forces Bill to make Emily's final moments happy by pretending he has returned to marry her.
The Broken Locket
Director of Photography
George Peabody is a young man who has been giving free rein to his inclinations, the principal one being drink. One might have concluded he was lost, but there was the chance which the hand of Providence always bestows in the person of pretty little Ruth King, who had secretly loved George since their childhood days. She succeeds in persuading him from his reckless life, and he determines to cut off from his old loose companions by going out West and making a man of himself. Bidding Ruth and her mother good-bye, he realizes that he loves his little preserver and promises to return worthy of her love and confidence. They plight their troth with their first kiss and a heart shaped locket, which Ruth wears, she breaking it in two, giving George one side while she retains the other, which symbolized the reunion of their hearts with his return.
Getting Even
Director of Photography
All the young men in the mining camp flirt with Lucy. Bud, the youngest of them, doesn't stand a chance. At a dance, Bud dresses as a woman and all the men flirt with him and abandon Lucy. When his disguise is revealed, the other men are too embarrassed to approach Lucy, and Bud dances the rest of the night with her.
Comata, the Sioux
Director of Photography
This story of the Black Hills consistently tells of the unrequited love of a Sioux brave for his chief's daughter, and how he premonished the awful results of her ominous marriage with a white cowboy. Clear Eyes, the daughter of Chief Thunder Cloud, is beloved by Comata, a Sioux brave, but having met and listened to the persuasion of Bud Watkins, a cowboy, leaves her mountain home to become his squaw. Poor little confiding Clear Eyes lives only for Bud, and he at first seems devoted to her, but at the end of two years, a little papoose arriving meanwhile to bless their union, he tires of her, and courts Miss Nellie Howe, a white girl, who thinks him single. Comata, however, has unremittingly watched his movements, and vows to avenge his lost one. Following him to the white girl's home, he sees enough to convince him of the whelp's villainy, so he goes and reveals the truth to Clear Eyes.
1776, or The Hessian Renegades
Director of Photography
During the American Revolution, a young soldier carrying a crucial message to General Washington is spotted and pursued by a group of enemy soldiers. He takes refuge with a civilian family, but is soon detected. The family and their neighbors must then make plans to see that the important message gets through after all.
The Sealed Room
Director of Photography
The Count sets out to make a private room for him and his Countess, built in such a way no one can see, hear, and most importantly, disturb them. But unbeknownst to the Count, his wife has set her eyes on the court minstrel. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” and Honoré de Balzac's “La Grande Breteche”.
The Little Darling
Director of Photography
This might be termed a comedy of errors, for the overzealousness of a lot of good-hearted simple folks places them in a rather embarrassing position. Lillie Green, who keeps a boarding house, receives a letter from her old school chum, Polly Brown, whom sin hasn't seen in years, to the effect that as Lillie has never seen her little darling daughter, she will send her for a few days' visit, asking that someone meet the child at the 3:40 train. Lillie's boarders are a bunch of kind-hearted bachelors, who at once prepare to give the "Little Darling" the time of her life, buying a load of toys, etc., for her amusement, also procuring a baby carriage with which to meet her at the train. You may imagine their embarrassment when they find that Tootsie, instead of being a baby, proves to be a handsome young lady of seventeen, whose tastes run rather to garden gates, shady lanes and quiet nooks, than toys. (Moving Picture World)
They Would Elope
Director of Photography
Two lovers elope and expect to be pursued by her father. But the clever father has tricked them into running off, and celebrates their wedding when they return home.
Sweet and Twenty
Director of Photography
Alice misunderstands when she sees her sweetheart Frank accidentally kissing her sister, and gets upset. Frank claims he'll kill himself by throwing himself into the river, but gets cold feet when it comes time to actually do the deed. Fortunately for him, his girlfriend has come running worried after him, and all is forgiven between them.
The Country Doctor
Director of Photography
While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.
The Necklace
Director of Photography
Mrs. Kendrick borrows a jeweled necklace from a friend for an important social event. The necklace is stolen, and Mr. Kendrick goes into debt to replace it. The thief discovers it's costume jewelry, but the Kendricks never learns the truth; Husband and wife struggle for years to pay off the huge debt.
The Way of Man
Director of Photography
A woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.
The Son's Return
Director of Photography
A son leaves to seek his fortune in the city. Many years later he returns and checks into his parents' inn. They don't recognize him, but noticing his fat wallet, plan to rob him.
A Vila Solitária
Director of Photography
Uma gangue de ladrões atrai um homem para fora de sua casa para que eles possam roubá-la e ameaçar sua esposa e filhos. A família se entrincheira em uma sala interna, mas os criminosos estão bem preparados para arrombar. Quando o pai descobre o que está acontecendo, ele precisa correr contra o tempo para voltar para casa.
What Drink Did
Director of Photography
A man leaves his wife and two daughters for work in a carpentry shop. At work, he initially refuses a beer with lunch, then gives in. After work, two friends take a little while to convince him to go for a refreshing malt beverage, then to have another and another....
Two Memories
Director of Photography
Henry and Marion have a lover's quarrel and part in anger. They do not reconcile, and ten years pass without contact. Marion becomes a society girl and spends her time at parties with her friends. Henry has become very ill and wishes to see Marion one more time. He writes asking her to visit. When she recieves the note, she laughs and tosses it on the floor, but, later, on a whim, decides to take all her drunken friends with her to visit him. When they arrive, Marion finds Henry dead, clutching her portrait in his hand. She sends her friends away and falls to her knees in remorse. Mary Pickford's debut!
The Suicide Club
Director of Photography
One of the members of a suicide club learns he has inherited some money, but only after he drew the fatal lot and is expected to kill himself. Presumed to be a lost film.
At the Altar
Director of Photography
At the Italian boarding house the male boarders were all smitten with the charms of Minnie, the landlady's pretty daughter, but she was of a poetic turn of mind and her soul soared above plebeianism and her aspirations were romantic. Most persistent among her suitors was Grigo, a coarse Sicilian, whose advances were odiously repulsive. The arrival at the boarding house from the old country of Giuseppe Cassella, the violinist, filled the void in her yearning heart. Romantic, poetic and a talented musician, Giuseppe was indeed a desirable husband for Minnie.
The Joneses Have Amateur Theatricals
Director of Photography
This is a very short and rare attempt at comedy by D. W. Griffith.
The Curtain Pole
Director of Photography
An upper class drawing room. A gentleman breaks the curtain pole and goes in search of a replacement, but he stops into a pub first. He buys a very long pole, and causes havoc everywhere he passes, accumulating an ever-growing entourage chasing him, until he escapes them through a bit of movie magic, only to discover that the pole has already been replaced.
The Curtain Pole
Story
An upper class drawing room. A gentleman breaks the curtain pole and goes in search of a replacement, but he stops into a pub first. He buys a very long pole, and causes havoc everywhere he passes, accumulating an ever-growing entourage chasing him, until he escapes them through a bit of movie magic, only to discover that the pole has already been replaced.
Edgar Allan Poe
Director of Photography
As Poe's lover is slowly dying, he struggles to make money to care for her.
The Cord of Life
Director of Photography
Antonine, a worthless, good-for-nothing scoundrel, demands money of his cousin Galora, an energetic, provident husband and father. His demands are met with a positive rebuff, and when he becomes insistent be is forcibly ejected by Galora. As he leaves the tenement he vows to get even, and lies in wait until Galora has gone out on business. Climbing to the fifth floor, on which the Galoras live, he watches his chance, which comes when Mrs. Galora goes for an instant to visit a neighbor on the same floor. Darting into the apartment and raising the window he perceives the awful result of a drop to the ground, five stories below, and so evolves a plan that is dastardly in the extreme. Taking the infant child from the cradle, and placing it in a basket he lets it out with a short rope, the end of which he secures by letting the sash down on it, so that to raise the window would precipitate the baby to destruction.
The Welcome Burglar
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a butler and a man in an office in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Those Awful Hats
Director of Photography
A pair of young ladies cause trouble at the cinema with their lavish hats.
The Fascinating Mrs. Francis
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a party guest in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Mr. Jones Has a Card Party
Director of Photography
Mr. Jones, since his last escapade, had made strenuous efforts to amend the reputation he had gained in the eyes of the ladies of the Temperance League. But Oh! the ordeal, for such it was, was telling on him, and his pent-up spirits were threatening ebullition, when at last the chance comes. The league arranges to attend a three-days' convention out of town, and when Mrs. Jones departs, Jones sends a note to Smith, telling him to bring the gang, and they would have a "Prayer Meeting," enjoining him not to forget the "fixings." Well, the gang are not long in putting in an appearance, for they feel that every minute's delay is a chunk lost from a golden opportunity for fun.
The Criminal Hypnotist
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a party guest in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
The Sacrifice
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as an extra in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
A Rural Elopement
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a man in the crowd in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Love Finds a Way
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a footman in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
The Honor of Thieves
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a man at the dance and a cop in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
The Maniac Cook
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as a cop in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Mr. Jones at the Ball
Director of Photography
Mr. Jones at the Ball is a 1908 American silent short comedy film, part of the once-popular Biograph series centered around the titular Jones and his long-suffering wife. In this film, Jones rips his suit pants and chaos ensues.
The Christmas Burglars
Director of Photography
Mack Sennett appears as one of character Mike McLaren's assistants in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Money Mad
Director of Photography
The central figure is an old miser, a Harpagon of sorts, who, like Frosine, stashes his ill-gotten money in a secret cellar. While the miser is at the bank, exchanging stolen notes for gold coin, a couple of thugs witness the transaction and see their opportunity-- It seems avarice grips the hearts of all those who'd possess the bag.
The Valet's Wife
Director of Photography
Bachelor Reggie writes his uncle that he has a wife and child, but then must produce them when the uncle visits.
The Taming of the Shrew
Director of Photography
Based on Shakespeare's play. Petruchio courts the bad-tempered Katharina, and tries to change her aggressive behavior.
Father Gets in the Game
Director of Photography
D.W. Griffith film about an elderly father who grows tired of seeing his son bring home beautiful women so he gets a makeover and heads out on the prowl.
The Zulu's Heart
Director of Photography
A Boer woman and her daughter are captured by Zulu warriors.
The Adventures of Dollie
Director
On a warm and sunny summer's day, a mother and father take their young daughter Dollie on a riverside outing.
Over the Hills to the Poor House
Director of Photography
The widowed elderly mother of three adult children, two sons and a daughter, wishing to relieve herself of the burden of care of her property, decides to divide it up among her children. To her son Charles, a wild but kind young fellow, she leaves a small amount, feeling that he will soon run through it. The good-hearted boy is perfectly satisfied, believing in the wisdom of his mother's actions. He assumes she will find a home with one of his siblings, who are married and settled. The old woman moves in with her married son, but is driven out by his wife over an argument about her young granddaughter. She is forced to move into a squalid apartment in a cheap tenement house, but is evicted for failing to pay her rent. Mack Sennett appears as a bartender in this film.
The Invisible Fluid
Director of Photography
Had the poor melancholy Dane, Hamlet, lived in this, the twentieth century, he would never have given voice to the remark, "Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!" No indeed! He would have procured some of the mysterious fluid compounded by an erudite scientist by which things animate and inanimate were rendered non est, for ten minutes at least, by simply spraying them with it. In an atomizer, he sends a quantity, accompanied by a letter, to his brother. In the hope of his putting it on the market. The brother regards it as a joke, and, while toying with the atomizer, accidentally sprays himself. Presto! he is gone, to the amazement of the messenger boy who has carried the package thither. The boy reads the letter, and at once sees the amount of fun he can get out of it, so he nips it.
When Knights Were Bold
Director of Photography
Two noblemen fight over a lady.
The Music Master
Director of Photography
What is more miserable than love-blighted life? For the heart that truly loves can never forget. Such is the sad fate of the hero of this Biograph story.
Hulda's Lovers
Director of Photography
Hulda is a maiden fair to look upon. Her artless rustic simplicity, rivaling Hebe's gorgeous radiance, phlogisticates the susceptible hearts of the village swains. But alas, Hulda was a fickle maid, and seemed to have as many phases as the moon, with a smile for all and a frown for none. Her capriciousness was the cause of much unrest, both for herself and her lovers, for when her parents had departed for a visit, leaving her in charge of the kitchen, she received most effusively Jocular Jake, the village cut-up, only to hide him above stairs at the entrance of Previous-Hearted Pat, the hostler, who in turn is hidden in the Dutch oven at the approach of Handy Hank, the chore boy.
Jamestown Exposition
Camera Operator
Scenes of Theodore Roosevelt at the Jamestown Exposition in Norfolk, Virginia, in April and June, 1907, participating in Jamestown's tercentennial celebration on April 26, its opening day, and later on Georgia Day, June 10.
Mr. Hurry-up
Director of Photography
Mr. Hurry-Up gets dressed in a rush, and then races down to breakfast. After a few quick bites and a couple gulps of coffee, he races out the door and heads to work. While working at his desk, he begins to suffer from a painful toothache. Though he wants to get it dealt with as quickly as possible, Mr. Hurry-Up soon learns that some things should not be done hastily.
Trial Marriages
Director of Photography
A man attempts a series of 'trial marriages' with various women, and eventually gives up on marriage altogether.
Fights of Nations
Director of Photography
The film is several vignettes of slap stick presentation of racial stereotypes. We are treated to murderous Mexicans, conniving Jews, brawling Irish, bloodthirsty Scots, an Indian, and even Uncle Sam. This little black and white silent feature is an interesting look, especially in that we really don't know what we are seeing. Is this what it first appears - a racist comedy that shows a disdain for all non-WASPs? Is the final scene depicting most of the cast (except the dancing Negros) working together to show that America is a melting pot?
Married for Millions
Director of Photography
Early Biograph short on the results of marrying for financial gain.
Holdup of the Rocky Mountain Express
Director of Photography
An early film drama shot on an actual railroad line in Phoenicia, NY in the Catskills.
From Leadville to Aspen: A Hold-Up in the Rockies
Director of Photography
A train traveling through the Rockies is held up and boarded by two thugs. They rob the wealthy occupants at gunpoint and then make their getaway by handcar. From there, they hijack a horsecart on a road running parallel to the tracks. Will justice prevail in the end?
Logging in Maine
Director
The subject is the movement of cut timber from the forest to the mill. The few scenes that make up the film are loggers performing the various operations necessary to prevent logs from jamming together. The men keep them headed with the flow of the water toward the lake on which the mill is located. The activities of approximately a dozen men were photographed.
The Impossible Convicts
Director
Four prisoners, in convicts' stripes, march backwards down stairs and, under the watchful eyes of guards, hop backwards into their cells. Later, one overpowers a guard and springs his three pals. But, will they be able to pull off an escape? Other guards come to the aid of their fallen comrade before all four felons can flee. Guards and convicts spring forward and backward out of cells, up and down stairs, and into and out of freedom.
San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake
Director of Photography
Footage shot not long after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco is edited together so that more than one scene and more than one vantage are included. We see fire raging. We see burned-out buildings, piles of rubble, and buildings with only one wall standing. People stand and watch; others walk purposely through the debris. A carriage passes; the camera pans the desolation. A horse-drawn cart is laden with a family's remaining possessions. A sign hangs outside one building: "A little disfigured but still in business. Men Wanted."
A Kentucky Feud
Director of Photography
A fictionalized account of the Hatfields and the McCoys.
The Summer Boarders
Director
A city family goes to the shore for a vacation, but everything goes wrong.
A Ballroom Tragedy
Director of Photography
A woman sneaks up behind a seated couple, stabs the woman in the back, and makes an escape.
New York Subway
Director of Photography
The camera platform was on the front of a New York subway train following another train on the same track. Lighting is provided by a specially constructed work car on a parallel track. At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today's east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbuilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.
New York Subway
Director
The camera platform was on the front of a New York subway train following another train on the same track. Lighting is provided by a specially constructed work car on a parallel track. At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today's east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbuilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.
Latina, Contortionist
Director of Photography
A woman wearing a light-colored leotard, gathered at the waist, and tights stands against a black background. Although she is filmed in a long shot, her feet are cut off in the frame. She opens with a flourish of her arms and faces the camera. First stretching up with her arms, Latina then bends in half at the waist, steps into a metal ring or hoop, and places her head in the ring as well.
Peeping Tom in the Dressing Room
Director of Photography
A young man leers through a peephole in the wall separating two dressing rooms, but he is caught, and is humiliated by his victim.
A Pipe Dream
Director
A little man appears out of the smoke.
Midwinter Bathing, L Street Bath, Boston
Director of Photography
This film was photographed in the winter, much of it during an actual snowstorm, and snow can be seen on the ground in all scenes. The subject is a group of men, clothed only in swimming trunks, who demonstrate their physical prowess by doing calisthenics, playing handball, and swimming during freezing weather.
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
Director of Photography
Based loosely on the once-popular nursery rhyme. A fair is in progress, with refreshments, entertainment, and other activities. As the rest of the crowd is watching one of the acts, the titular Tom steals a pig from another little boy and runs off. He tries to hide, but he is chased by the crowd. The pig also proves difficult to control. Tom, the little boy, and the crowd run from place to place.
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
Director
Based loosely on the once-popular nursery rhyme. A fair is in progress, with refreshments, entertainment, and other activities. As the rest of the crowd is watching one of the acts, the titular Tom steals a pig from another little boy and runs off. He tries to hide, but he is chased by the crowd. The pig also proves difficult to control. Tom, the little boy, and the crowd run from place to place.
She Banked in Her Stocking; or, Robbed of Her All
Director of Photography
The formal name of the peep show machine was the Mutoscope -- at least when it was manufactured by the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company, which later became simply "Biograph" and is best remembered for the films directed by D.W. Griffith with G.W. "Billy" Bitzer as him cameraman. At this point, however, Griffith was a struggling stage actor and Bitzer was a leading cameraman for Biograph. This meant that he did all sorts of movies, including peep shows, and this is one of them. The title tells all and the show shows a lot as a woman exposes a shapely limb and is punished for her flouting of decent behavior.
A Trip to Salt Lake City
Director of Photography
Made in 1905 when short films were still being done in just one shot (for the Kinetoscope peep-show machines) and lasted about 2 minutes, this depicts a Mormon man trying to get his wives and children settled down for the night on a Pullman car in a train. The children wear him out wanting piggy-back rides, he and the wives put the children in their beds, but of course they need a drink. The poor mans takes a lip lashing from his wives and hurries out, returning shortly with a large milk can with several straws attached.
2 A.M. in the Subway
Director of Photography
Public morality, late night cavorting, and a practical joke. A constable and a subway attendant are working late at night in an underground station…
The Chicken Thief
Director of Photography
Two black men are stealing chickens and get chased by the white farmers.
Coil Winding Section E
Director
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.
Personal
Director of Photography
A man who has placed a personal advertisement for a prospective wife goes to wait at the meeting place that he designated. Soon a woman comes in response to the advertisement. Before the two have a chance to converse, several more women arrive on the scene. Now completely flustered, the man flees, initiating a lengthy chase.
The Hero of Liao-Yang
Director of Photography
Several Japanese youths are playing various games and enjoying some refreshments outdoors when a military courier arrives. The messenger asks for one of the young men, and gives him his orders. The young man puts on his uniform, leaves home, and reports to a unit in the field, where preparations are being made for a battle against the Russians. The young soldier is then sent on a dangerous but important mission.
A Cake Walk on the Beach at Coney Island
Director
People doing the Cake Walk dance on the Beach at Coney Island.
Automobiling Among the Clouds
Director of Photography
A procession of American and European automobiles--including such makes as Daimlers, Mercedes, Stanley Steamers and Pierces-- drive up and down the steep roads on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. Some of them struggle with the steep grade. A hiker persists in sequential shots. It's unknown whether the film was an attempt to document a race or rally, or merely present picturesque actuality. It's also been surmised that audiences of the day might have bet on the film's numbered cars.
Alone
Director of Photography
A small child in the surf at the seashore. The child is evidently frightened at the rushing waves and stands terrified until a larger wave than usual comes along, whereupon the child turns and runs toward the shore.
Panorama View, Street Car Motor Room
Director of Photography
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)
Testing Large Turbines, Westinghouse Co. Works
Director
On the left of the screen, a small group of men lift the top off of what appears to be a turbine with a crane and continue to check the machine, tightening various parts with wrenches. On the right side, a few men appear to be testing the workings of what may be a turbine.
Tapping a Furnace
Director
A large bucket is lowered into a pit by male workers using machinery. Molten material from a furnace is poured into the bucket using a slide. The bucket, which has flames coming from inside, is lifted up from the pit by a crane.
Steam Hammer
Director
From what appears to be a furnace, a large, glowing block is lifted with the help of a crane over to a table by a group of men. A hammer comes from above and pounds down on the block repeatedly as the men turn the block several times so that it will acquire a certain shape.
Testing a Rotary
Director of Photography
A small group of men turn on what appears to be a generator. As the rotary spins, the men make adjustments to the machine and check its operations.
Panorama of Machine Co. Aisle
Director of Photography
A camera on an overhead crane travels down a large, long aisle where men are shown working on large machinery on either side. Carts carrying equipment are shown traveling on rails down the aisles. There are also men walking in the aisles. From Bitzer's Westinghouse Works series.
Panorama of Machine Co. Aisle
Director
A camera on an overhead crane travels down a large, long aisle where men are shown working on large machinery on either side. Carts carrying equipment are shown traveling on rails down the aisles. There are also men walking in the aisles. From Bitzer's Westinghouse Works series.
Girls Taking Time Checks
Director of Photography
Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.
Steam Whistle
Director
A closeup of the steam whistle blowing at the "Westinghouse works" complex of factories in Pennsylvania, probably at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
Westinghouse Works
Director
Billy Bitzer filmed 21 short actualities inside the Pittsburgh Westinghouse Works in April and May of 1904. Audiences of the day would have been treated to footage of factory panoramas, women winding armatures and turbines being assembled. These industrial films were produced for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company.
Westinghouse Works
Director of Photography
Billy Bitzer filmed 21 short actualities inside the Pittsburgh Westinghouse Works in April and May of 1904. Audiences of the day would have been treated to footage of factory panoramas, women winding armatures and turbines being assembled. These industrial films were produced for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company.
The Fate of the Artist's Model
Director of Photography
The Fate of the Artist's Model (1903) shows a young woman and her baby who are abandoned by her artist lover.
A Frontier Flirtation; or, How the Tenderfoot Won Out
Director of Photography
A Western cowboy attempts to flirt with a veiled young lady sitting on a bench in the garden...
Weighing the Baby
Director of Photography
A pretty domestic scene showing the proud father, with the assistance of the nurse and doctor, tying the little one in a towel and weighing it with a spring scale.
Orphans in the Surf
Director
Taken at St. John's Home, Coney Island. A large number of boys are bathing in the surf. At a signal the boys leave the water and walk toward the camera. A very unique subject.
The Dude and the Burglars
Director of Photography
Two burglars have just entered an elegant-looking home, but before they can proceed, the woman of the house enters the room. One of the burglars seizes her, but then her husband enters and gets her free of the burglar's grasp. But the husband did not notice the second burglar, who now comes to the aid of his partner - and a tense confrontation is about to begin.
Levi & Cohen, the Irish Comedians
Director of Photography
Showing two typical concert hall knock-about teams in a very poor performance. It ends up in their being egged by the audience.
Levi & Cohen, the Irish Comedians
Director
Showing two typical concert hall knock-about teams in a very poor performance. It ends up in their being egged by the audience.
Expert Bag Punching
Director
A remarkable exhibition by Gus Keller, novelty bag puncher of the New Polo Athletic Association. In seven scenes with dissolving effects. A. Single, B. Knee, C. Floor, D. Double, E. Aerial, F. Triple, G. Double Floor.
The Boy In The Barrel
Director
A small boy is smoking his first cigarette in the door-yard of a cottage. Fearing detection, he jumps into a barrel. His parents see the smoke rising from the barrel, rush out of the house and drench the youngster with water. The finish is very laughable.
Betsy Ross Dance
Director of Photography
Presumably the woman is Betsy Ross, and she's quite a pretty woman with tumbling dark hair and coltish legs. She dances energetically, but it all looks spontaneous and un-choreographed meaning that there's not a lot of rhythm to her movements.
The Giddy Dancing Master
Director of Photography
The dancing master is a dapper little fellow who has been engaged to instruct two pretty girls in some of the niceties of stage dancing. He becomes a little too demonstrative with one of the young girls and her mother takes him out by the ear.
Happy Hooligan Interferes
Director
An organ-grinder is playing beneath the window of a cranky old woman. She objects strenuously. The organ-grinder, egged on by Hooligan, keeps on playing until a policeman appears.
Happy Hooligan Interferes
Director of Photography
An organ-grinder is playing beneath the window of a cranky old woman. She objects strenuously. The organ-grinder, egged on by Hooligan, keeps on playing until a policeman appears.
Hooligan in Jail
Director of Photography
A comic looking prison eats soup
The Georgetown Loop (Colorado)
Director of Photography
Georgetown is a silver-mining town at 8,500 feet near the crest of the Rockies. Hooked somehow to the rear of a four-car passenger train is a camera that pans the scenery and, when the train goes around curves, looks ahead to see the engine and passenger cars: the passengers wave hundreds of white handkerchiefs out of the train's left-side windows for the benefit of the camera. The town comes into view; the tracks are above the town, so the camera looks down on dozens of modest rooftops as it pans the area.
The Georgetown Loop
Director of Photography
Railroad from Georgetown to Silver Plume, Colorado.
The Georgetown Loop
Director
Railroad from Georgetown to Silver Plume, Colorado.
President McKinley Inauguration
Director
President McKinley Inauguration
Across Brooklyn Bridge
Director
This picture is very novel and interesting. It gives the complete trip from the station at the New York City end of the bridge to the station at the Brooklyn end, as seen from the front end of a third rail car running at high speed. The entire trip consumes three minutes of time, during which abundant opportunity is given to observe all the structural wonders of the bridge, and far distant river panorama below.
Panorama from the Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge
Director of Photography
Filmed from the Brooklyn tower of the bridge, this is a panorama starting at Manhattan's Battery and then panning northward along the East River shoreline. Reportedly filmed somewhere between 1897 - 1899, though not copyrighted until 1903.
Panorama from the Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge
Director
Filmed from the Brooklyn tower of the bridge, this is a panorama starting at Manhattan's Battery and then panning northward along the East River shoreline. Reportedly filmed somewhere between 1897 - 1899, though not copyrighted until 1903.
Stealing a Dinner
Director of Photography
“Another exhibition by Prof. Leonidas' troop of cats and dogs. One of the dogs is shown stealing his dinner from the table in his master's absence. In order to cover his own crime, the dog places a cat on the table, where she is found when the master comes in.” (AMB Picture Catalogue, 1902)
McKinley at Home, Canton, Ohio
Director of Photography
“This view was taken upon Mr. McKinley's lawn at his home in Canton, Ohio. Mr. McKinley appears walking across the lawn in company with his Secretary, who hands him a telegram, which he reads with apparent satisfaction. The characteristic walk and gestures of Mr. McKinley will be noted with interest by his friends.” (AMB Picture Catalogue)
Little Egypt
Camera Operator
"A well-known character, in a dance that created considerable excitement when first introduced in America."