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With a static frame sliced diagonally by the titular bridge, R.W. Paul’s fascinating short captures (long-dead) Londoners making the morning commute—by foot, carriage, and horse-drawn, open-topped double-decker bus. Beautifully composed and teaming with life, the film proves delightfully transporting.
Beautifully framed and filled with movement, the Lumières’ extraordinarily powerful film documents the launch of a ship at La Ciotat, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, in 1896. Filling the frame, the ship dwarfs its human onlookers, who flinch and cower as it gathers speed, severing itself from its ropes and gargantuan chain-links, as it begins its journey towards destinations unknown.
Le Cauchemar | Georges Méliès | ★★★
Comic Costume Race | R.W. Paul | ★★★
Danse Serpentine | Lumière Brothers | ★★★
Footpads | R.W. Paul | ★★★
The Kiss | William Heise | ★★★
Panorama du Grand Canal Vu d'un Bateau | Alexandre Promio | ★★★
Pompiers à Lyon | Lumière Brothers | ★★★
Snowball Fight | Lumière Brothers | ★★★
The Twins' Tea Party | R.W. Paul | ★★★
The Vanishing Lady | Georges Méliès | ★★★
The Boxing Kangaroo | Birt Acres | ★★
The Cabbage Fairy | Alice Guy | ★★
Défense d'Afficher | Georges Méliès | ★★
Demolition of a Wall | Lumière Brothers | ★★
Feeding the Doves | James H. White | ★★
The Haunted Castle | Georges Méliès | ★★
Lion, London Zoological Gardens | Lumière Brothers | ★★
New York, Broadway at Union Square | Alexandre Promio | ★★
Partie de Cartes | Georges Méliès | ★★
Rough Sea at Dover | Birt Acres & R.W. Paul | ★★
A Sea Cave Near Lisbon | R.W. Paul | ★★
A Terrible Night | Georges Méliès | ★★
