The invention of cinema—and its growth into a sophisticated art form—are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself. 



DVD 1 Alice Guy 

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906). 

Screenshots: https://freakyflicks.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=6&action=display&thread=4466


1897 
The Fisherman at the Stream 
Bathing in a Stream 
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter 

1898 
The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man 
At the Hypnotist's 
The Burglars 
Disappearing Act 
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak 

1899 
At the Club 
Wonderful Absinthe 

1900 
Avenue de l’Opéra 
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder 
At the Photographer's 
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance 
The Landlady 
Turn-of-the-Century Surgery 
Pierrette’s Escapades* 
At the Floral Ball* 
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy 

1902 
Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard 
Midwife to the Upper Class 
An Untimely Intrusion 
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs 

1903 
How Monsieur Takes His Bath 
Faust and Mephistopheles 

1905 
The O’Mers in “The Bricklayers” 
The Statue 
The Magician’s Alms 
Clown, Dog and Balloon 
Spain 
The Tango 
The Malagueña and the Bullfighter 
Cook & Rilly’s Trained Rooster 
Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque 
Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène” 
Saharet Performs the Bolero* 
Polin Performs “The Anatomy of a Draftee”† 
Dranem Performs “The True Jiu-Jitsu”† 
Dranem Performs “Five O’Clock Tea”† 
Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”* † 
Félix Mayol Performs “The Trottins’ Polka”† 
Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs”† 

1906 
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ 
An Obstacle Course 
Madame’s Cravings 
A Sticky Woman 
The Hierarchies of Love 
The Cruel Mother 
A Story Well Spun 
The Drunken Mattress 
The Parish Priest’s Christmas 
The Truth Behind the Ape-Man 
The Consequences of Feminism 
Ocean Studies 
The Game-Keeper’s Son 

1907 
The Race for the Sausage 
The Glue 
The Fur Hat 
The Cleaning Man 
A Four-Year-Old Hero 
The Rolling Bed 
The Irresistible Piano 
On the Barricade 
The Dirigible “Homeland” 

* In the original hand-tinted color 
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène” 





Curated by Pierre Philippe 

Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except 
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa 
American Edition produced by Bret Wood 



Format: AVI 
Format/Info: Audio Video Interleave 
Bit rate: 1332 Kbps 
Writing application: Lavf51.12.1 

Codec: xvid 
Bit rate: 1191 Kbps 
Width: 720 pixels 
Height: 480 pixels 
Aspect ratio: 1.500 
Frame rate: 29.970 fps 
Standard: NTSC 
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.115 

Audio 
Codec: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 
Codec profile: Joint stereo 
Bit rate: 128 Kbps 
Bit rate mode: CBR 
Channel(s): 2 channels 
Sampling rate: 48 KHz 
Resolution: 16 bits