1900 Anno Cinque: Nice Moves – British Film in 1900

Cecil M. Hepworth: Clown and Police (GB 1900).

Bologna: Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020: Bei movimenti – Il cinema britannico nel 1900
Introduce Mariann Lewinsky
Steinway Concert Grand Piano: John Sweeney
Viewed at Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 29 Aug 2020.

Bryony Dixon (Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020): "Four themes link this programme of British films from the year 1900, each celebrating a type of movement. Joe Rosenthal’s globe-trotting from England to South Africa to the Far East in search of a news story, the cyclical descriptions of random bodies – gymnasts, spiders, traction engines and the moon –, the in/out motion of waves sometimes with great violence and a series of explosions. Films from 1900 are still mostly single scenes or comprised of a very few shots, but this apparent simplicity can obscure how difficult it sometimes was to make them. Here are examples of clever trickwork, inventive use of models, patient observation, expert spider wrangling and very good organisation. There are few things as difficult to film as a total eclipse of the sun, but here we present for your delectation the first ever surviving eclipse film by magician Nevil Maskelyne Jr. filmed in North Carolina on 29 May, showing the corona and the famed Baily’s beads or the ‘diamond ring’ effect. These films have all been newly digitised from the best film sources as part of the BFI National Archive’s Victorian Project covering all the surviving British films from the 1895 to 1901. Some will be familiar but are shown here in better quality and a few will be new to the festival audiences." Bryony Dixon (Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020)

ESPLOSION! / BIG BANGS.

Cecil M. Hepworth: Explosion of a Motor Car (GB 1900).

Explosion of a Motor Car
GB 1900.
Prod.: Hepworth and Co.
1'37''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Fiction, trick film, spectacle. A foundational car disaster film in a comic mode. The policeman takes notes of the bizarre goings-on. From a duped and scratched source. Long take approach.

Cecil M. Hepworth: Demolishing a Factory Chimney (GB 1900).

Demolishing a Factory Chimney
GB 1900.
Prod.: [Hepworth and Co.]
1'32''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction. Cinema of attractions and perhaps an allegory of patriarchy. Witnessed by a crowd. From a duped source in low contrast.

R. W. Paul: Railway Collision (GB 1900).

Railway Collision
GB 1900.
Prod.: [Paul’s Animatograph Works].
39''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: A studio reconstruction. A painted backdrop, miniature models.

Alfred West: Torpedo Explosion (GB 1900).

Torpedo Explosion
GB 1900.
Prod.: [Alfred West].
20''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction. A ship is exploded with the torpedo.

Clown and Police
GB 1900
Prod.: [Hepworth and Co.]
1'50''
DCP from BFI.
Photo: see above.
    AA: A trick film. Méliès style special effects: the policeman is blown into pieces, but, reconstructed, he tears the clown apart.

MOTI CIRCOLARI / CIRCULAR MOTIONS.

Vaulting Horse Display (GB 1900).

Vaulting Horse Display
GB 1900
48''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, a record of a sport event. A splendid display of vaulting on the horse.

G. A. Smith: Spiders on a Web (GB 1900).

Spiders on a Web
GB 1900
Prod.: [G. A. Smith].
17''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, natural science, zoology, entomology. Scientific cinema: two spiders under the loop.

Salvaging a Steamroller (GB 1900).

Salvaging a Steamroller
GB 1900
2'12''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction. With great effort a heavy steamroller is lifted from a pit.

Nevil Maskelyne: Total Eclipse of the Sun (GB 1900).

Total Eclipse of the Sun
GB 1900
Prod.: [Nevil Maskelyne].
1'08''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, astronomy. Scientific cinema, simple and eloquent.

IN GIRO CON JOE ROSENTHAL / AROUND AND ABOUT WITH JOE ROSENTHAL.

Warwick Trading: Scene on Mr N. Smith’s Ostrich Farm, Impanzi SA (GB 1900).

Scene on Mr N. Smith’s Ostrich Farm, Impanzi SA
GB 1900
Prod.: [Warwick Trading Co.].
2'09''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, zoology, travelogue. A simple and vivid view about ostriches. From a source duped in high contrast.

Warwick Trading: Coolie Boys Singapore (GB 1900).

Coolie Boys Singapore
FB 1900
Prod.: [Warwick Trading Co.].
1'09''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, travelogue. Coolies jumping from the boat.

Warwick Trading:  Ride on a Peak Tramway (GB 1900).

Ride on a Peak Tramway
GB 1900.
Prod.: [Warwick Trading Co.].
3'10''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, travelogue, cinema of attractions. A long uphill phantom ride.

Warwick Trading: Nanking Road Shanghai (GB 1900).

Nanking Road Shanghai
GB 1900
Prod.: [Warwick Trading Co.]. DCP.
1'13''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, travelogue. A fine long take about rickshaw men. Plan-séquence.

ONDE / IN AND OUT

Storm at Sandown I O W (GB 1900).

Storm at Sandown I O W
GB 1900
48''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, cinema of attractions. Storm waves break into the shore. Simple and eloquent, but the definition is so low, the film borders on the invisible.

Rough Sea (GB 1900).

Rough Sea
GB 1900
1'19''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, cinema of attractions. The might of the waves against the breakwater.

Wreck in a Gale (GB 1900).

Wreck in a Gale
GB 1900
44''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, cinema of attractions. A wreck at the mercy of a gale. From a duped and scratched source.

Warwick Trading: Waves Break on Bow of a Ship (GB 1900).

Waves Break on Bow of a Ship
GB 1900.
Prod.: [Warwick Trading Co.].
55''
DCP from BFI.
    AA: Non-fiction, travelogue, cinema of attractions. A display of the majesty of the waves as the bow of a ship ploughs the sea.

AA: A wonderful early cinema show. The films are usually in a single shot, or at least in long takes. The visual quality: usually far removed from the original negative.