Year 1901

A chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.

A magician does tricks with the aid of his assistant, the Human Pump.

A man attempts to engender a transformation of a giant worm into a butterfly.

A magician explores two halves of his self: The Dwarf and the Giant.

Time-lapse photography showing the one month-long demolition of the Star Theatre in New York.

A young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.

A clown performs various feats of magic based on his ability to detach and reattach different parts of his body.

A street level view from the sidewalk, looking along the length of 23rd Street. Following actuality footage of pedestrians and street traffic, the actors, a man in summer attire and a woman in an ankle-length dress, walk toward the camera.

A man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera and cinematographer. He steps back, chews, and grins.

A very enthusiastic magician performs several tricks.

At the beginning of the scene Romeo in his gondola sings to Juliet a sentimental song, then goes away. Hardly has he departed when the colonnade falls to pieces, disclosing the devil. Juliet, frightened, runs to the window and calls Romeo. The latter attempts to enter and protect his fiancée, but at a gesture from the devil the window is instantly covered with a grating and Romeo makes frantic efforts to break it. The devil begins to dance a wild dance before Juliet, who is beside herself from terror. The devil gradually becomes the size of a giant (a novel effect). Juliet implores the statue of Madonna, which becomes animated, descends from its pedestal, and stretching out its arms orders the devil to disappear. (Méliès Catalog)

A group of people exiting an enormous carriage.

A magician's hat offers many surprises.

President McKinley taking the Oath.

A convicted criminal dreams about his past the night before his execution.

A sorceress conjures up a bevy of beauties for a bachelor to peruse.

Filmed in 35mm and in black and white, this short silent film was produced by the English film pioneer R. W. Paul, and directed by Walter R. Booth and was filmed at Paul's Animatograph Works. It was released in November 1901. As was common in cinema's early days, the filmmakers chose to adapt an already well-known story, in this case A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in the belief that the audience's familiarity with the story would result in the need for fewer intertitles. It was presented in 'Twelve Tableaux' or scenes. The film contains the first use of intertitles in a film.

A satire on the way that audiences unaccustomed to the cinema didn't know how to react to the moving images on a screen - in this film, an unsophisticated (and stereotypical) country yokel is alternately baffled and terrified, in the latter case by the apparent approach of a steam train.

An impression of the funeral parade for Victoria, Queen of England, filmed in London (via https://catalogue-lumiere.com/le-char-funebre/)

Panorama of a mountainside railroad and tunnel.