1897. Cinema anno due [9]: American e British Mutoscope Biograph Company / 1897. Year Two of Cinemathography [9]: American and British Mutoscope Biograph Company

Jumbo, Horseless Fire Engine. W. K.-L. Dickson, 1897. Shot on 68 mm.

1897. Cinema anno due [9]: American e British Mutoscope Biograph Company
1897. Year Two of Cinemathography [9]: American and British Mutoscope Biograph Company

35 mm reductions from 68 mm.
From: EYE Film Instituut Nederland (and BFI National Archive).
Introduce: Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi (EYE).
Grand piano: Neil Brand.
No intertitles.
Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna.
Sala Mastroianni, 29 June 2017.

Mariann Lewinsky (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Even in the reduction to 35 mm, the grandeur of the original 68 mm format is still there. Like the photographic portraits taken by Nadar, the images of American and British Mutoscope and Biograph films are of a primordial eloquence, gripping our attention. We marvel at seeing a train approaching, machines in motion, ships gliding by, or being on a train and following its winding tracks. We experience cinematography in its purest state."

Pennsylvania Keystone Express. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 12 m.
    AA: A long shot. A train passes by majestetically.

Camp of Zingari Gypsies. Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, British Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate. Year: 1897. Country: Gran Bretagna. 13 m.
    AA: A magnificent big dancing scene.

The Crookedest Railroad Yard. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 32 m.
    AA: A forward tracking shot filmed from a train engine. Arriving at the railway yard.

Passage des portiques école de gymnastique de Joinville. Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, British Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate, Gran Bretagna. Year: 1897. Country: Gran Bretagna. 17 m.
    AA: Artistic gymnastics on an apparatus. Highly skilled drill exercises.

Changing Guard (Berlin). Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, British Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate. Year: 1897. Country: Gran Bretagna. 14 m.
    AA: A parade on a Berlin square, an elaborate deep focus composition on five layers of depth.

The Albany Day Boats. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 15 m.
    AA: New York: a paddle steamer sails by.

Threshing Machine at Work. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 12 m.
    AA: Agriculture: a thresher in action, threshing grain.

Jumbo, Horseless Fire Engine. Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 12 m.
    AA: The fire brigade speeds towards us.
 
Harvesting Corn. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 29 m.
    AA: Harvesting corn into a huge hill.

Pillow Fight. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 13 m.
    AA: An early instance of a spectacle most famously known from Jean Vigo's Zéro de conduite.

Haverstraw Tunnel. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 27 m.
    AA: A phantom ride, a tracking shot forward: the engine speeds to a tunnel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Place de la Concorde. Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, British Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate. Year: 1897. Country: Gran Bretagna. 14 m.
    AA: The much filmed square now recorded by W. K.-L. Dickson.

Fort Hill Fire Station. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 14 m.
    AA: Again the fire brigade is speeding towards us.

Military Review at Aldershot. Director: William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, British Mutoscope and Biograph Syndicate. Year: 1897. Country: Gran Bretagna. 14 m.
    AA: The cavalry charges towards us.

Battleships Maine and Iowa. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA. 32 m.
    AA: A lateral tracking shot from left to right, displaying battleships at the harbour.

Les Parisiennes. Director: American Mutoscope Company. Year: 1897. Country: USA.10 m.
    AA: From a charming hand-coloured source print, showing four dancing girls.

AA: A magnificent collection of views from superior 68 mm sources. It is interesting to observe that certain effects are similar to the ones emphasized in early 3D movies.

The speed was reportedly 24 fps. It could have been faster as was obvious in the dancing views and in Fort Hill Fire Station for instance.

Although these prints are highly impressive, I am not sure that I registered the 68 mm effect as fully as in reproductions of other 68 mm films that I have seen.