Greatest Films by Year 1800s

The Birth of Motion Pictures

Criteria: Lists of the Greatest Films of each year 1899, 1898, 1897, 1896, 1895, plus pre-1895 films, Chronophotographies and proto-films. These films are ranked according to their initial and lasting acclaim, influence as well as initial and lasting popularity.

10 Greatest Films of 1899


Cinderella
  #. Movie Title - (Directors Name)

  1. Cinderella - (Georges Méliès)
  2. The Kiss in the Tunnel - (George Albert Smith)
  3. The Devil in a Convent - (Georges Méliès)
  4. Kidnapping by Indians - (Sagar Mitchell & James Kenyon)
  5. King John - (Walter Pfeffer Dando, William K. L. Dickson & Herbert Beerbohm Tree)
  6. Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb - (Georges Méliès)
  7. Upside Down; or, the Human Flies - (Walter R. Booth)
  8. An Up-to-Date Conjuror - (Georges Méliès)
  9. The Pillar of Fire - (Georges Méliès)
10. The Jeffries-Sharkey Contest - (unknown)

10 Greatest Films of 1898


The Four
Troublesome Heads
  1. The Four Troublesome Heads - (Georges Méliès)
  2. Santa Claus - (George Albert Smith)
  3. The Astronomer's Dream - (Georges Méliès)
  4. Come Along, Do! - (Robert W. Paul)
  5. The Temptation of Saint Anthony - (Georges Méliès)
  6. Something Good, Negro Kiss - (William Selig)
  7. The Famous Box Trick - (Georges Méliès)
  8. Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine" - (Georges Méliès)
  9. The Miller and the Sweep - (George Albert Smith)
10. The Humpty Dumpty Circus - (J. Stuart Blackton)

10 Greatest Films of 1897


Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer
  1. Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer - (Alexandre Promio)
  2. Bataille de neige - (Louis Lumière)
  3. The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight - (Enoch J. Rector)
  4. After the Ball - (Georges Méliès)
  5. The Haunted Castle - (Georges Méliès)
  6. The X-Rays - (George Albert Smith)
  7. The Haverstraw Tunnel - (unknown)
  8. The Bewitched Inn - (Georges Méliès)
  9. Admiral Cigarette - (William Heise)
10. Sea Fighting in Greece - (Georges Méliès)

10 Greatest Films of 1896


L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
  1. L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat - (Louis & Auguste Lumière)
  2. La fée aux choux - (Alice Guy-Blaché)
  3. The Kiss - (William Heise)
  4. The House of the Devil - (Georges Méliès)
  5. Démolition d'un mur - (Louis Lumière)
  6. The Vanishing Lady - (Georges Méliès)
  7. Barque sortant du port - (Louis Lumière)
  8. Panorama du grand Canal pris d'un bateau - (Alexandre Promio)
  9. Awakening of Rip - (William K. L. Dickson)
10. A Nightmare - (Georges Méliès)

10 Greatest Films of 1895


Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
  1. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory - (Louis Lumière)
  2. L'Arroseur Arrosé - (Louis Lumière)
  3. The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots - (Alfred Clark)
  4. Repas de bébé - (Louis Lumière)
  5. Annabelle Serpentine Dance - (William K. L. Dickson & William Heise)
  6. The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon - (Louis Lumière)
  7. Boxing Kangaroo - (Max Skladanowsky)
  8. La charcuterie mécanique - (Louis Lumière)
  9. Rough Sea at Dover - (Birt Acres & Robert W. Paul)
10. Baignade en mer - (Louis Lumière)

20 Greatest Films pre-1895


Roundhay Garden Scene

Blacksmith Scene

The Dickson Experimental Sound Film
  1. Roundhay Garden Scene - (Louis Le Prince) (1888)
  2. Blacksmith Scene - (William K. L. Dickson) (1893)
  3. The Dickson Experimental Sound Film - (William K. L. Dickson) (1894)
  4. Fred Ott's Sneeze - (William K. L. Dickson) (1894)
  5. Monkeyshines, No. 1 - (William K. L. Dickson & William Heise) (1890)
  6. Pauvre Pierrot - (Émile Reynaud) (1892)
  7. Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge - (Louis Le Prince) (1888)
  8. Newark Athlete - (William K. L. Dickson) (1891)
  9. Dickson Greeting - (William K. L. Dickson) (1891)
10. Carmencita - (William K. L. Dickson) (1894)
11. Man Walking Around a Corner - (Louis Le Prince) (1887)
12. The Boxing Cats (Prof. Welton's) - (William K. L. Dickson & William Heise) (1894)
13. Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses - (William Friese-Greene) (1889)
14. Annabelle Butterfly Dance - (William K. L. Dickson) (1894)
15. Annie Oakley - (William K. L. Dickson) (1894)
16. Autour d'une cabine - (Émile Reynaud) (1894)
17. Un bon bock - (Émile Reynaud) (1892)
18. Falling Cat - (Étienne-Jules Marey) (1894)
19. The Barbershop - (William K. L. Dickson & William Heise) (1894)
20. Monkeyshines, No. 2 - (William K. L. Dickson & William Heise) (1890)

Chronophotographies/proto-films



The Horse in Motion
  1. The Horse in Motion - (Eadweard Muybridge) (1878)
  2. Passage de Vénus - (Jules Janssen) (1874)
  3. Le rosace magique - (Émile Reynaud) (1877)
  4. Buffalo Running - (Eadweard Muybridge) (1883)
  5. Bullet Piercing a Soap Bubble - (Lucien Bull) (1904)
  6. The Kiss - (Eadweard Muybridge) (1882)
  7. Athlete Swinging a Pick - (Eadweard Muybridge) (1881)
  8. Déplacement des globules de sang dans un vaisseau capillaire
- (Étienne-Jules Marey) (1892)

  9. Pferd und Reiter Springen über ein Hindernis - (Ottomar Anschütz) (1888)
10. L'homme machine - (Étienne-Jules Marey) (1885)

Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès

Louis Lumière
Louis Lumière


List Begun: 2023-09-19