Best Movies of 1899

A bearded man hangs up a wreath and, like any good magician, waves his hands inside of it and under it to show us it's only a wreath…

"This is a very remarkable picture, showing Union Square, New York City, during the great March blizzard of 1899. The camera was stationed at the corner of Broadway and Fourteenth Street, and was swept in almost a complete circle, showing the tremendous drifts of snow and the blockade at 'Dead Man's Curve' in Fourteenth Street. This picture was taken during the busiest time of the day, and shows to what extent New York City was tied up by this tremendous fall of snow." (AMB Picture Catalogue (1902)

Within a printing (printing a test).

Méliès appears as a court jester (a “triboulet” in French). He pulls 18th century noblemen out of a trunk and arranges them on a pyramid-shaped stage. Next, he transforms the gentlemen into fancy ladies.

This view represents the passage of a decorated chariot; The many spectators fight with confetti.

A century before Little Britain's Emily and Florence first assaulted our screens, a pair of equally unconvincing transvestites could be spotted in this short comedy. Our cross-dressing housewives are enjoying a gossip before they're abused by a couple of men. The film doesn't make clear why they deserve this attack, but an accompanying set of cards produced by the production company indicates that the ladies were engaged in a discussion about the then-pressing political issue of women's suffrage.

Based on Shakespeare's play, Act V, Scene vii: King John is in torment, and his supporters fear that his end is near. As he writhes in agony, he is attended by Prince Henry, the Earl of Pembroke, and Robert Bigot. Prince Henry tries repeatedly to comfort his delirious father, but to no avail - John's pain is too great.

Filmed from the Brooklyn tower of the bridge, this is a panorama starting at Manhattan's Battery and then panning northward along the East River shoreline.