Greatest Films by Year 1800s

The Birth of Motion Pictures

film scene stills for Cinderella and L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
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.

Last Updated: 2023-09-19
Greatest Films by Year 1800s

10 Greatest Films of 1899

  #. 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)

Cinderella film scene still
Cinderella

10 Greatest Films of 1898

  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)

The Four Troublesome Heads film scene stills
The Four
Troublesome Heads

10 Greatest Films of 1897

  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)

Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer film scene still
Départ de Jérusalem en chemin de fer

10 Greatest Films of 1896

  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)

L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat film scene still
L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat

10 Greatest Films of 1895

  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)

 Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory film scene still
Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory

20 Greatest Films pre-1895

  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)

Roundhay Garden Scene film scene still
Roundhay Garden Scene


Blacksmith Scene film still
Blacksmith Scene


The Dickson Experimental Sound Film, still image
The Dickson Experimental Sound Film

Chronophotographies/proto-films

  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)

The Horse in Motion film scene stills
The Horse in Motion film
The Horse in Motion
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Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès


Louis Lumière
Louis Lumière

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