Jared Wheeler's Blog

The first volume of my Film History Essentials series, collecting all 100 entries on films of the 19th century, is now available in book form, both as a paperback and for Kindle! The book is revised and edited, with some new images, additional details about the films at the beginning of each entry, a new introduction, and a full index in the back.

I believe this is a valuable and entertaining resource for film fans, and I have worked hard these past few months to add value as well as conv...

Summary:

A man and a woman sit across from each other in a railroad car, reading. When the train enters a tunnel, the man begins flirting with the woman, then goes over to kiss her. After kissing her a few times, the man accidentally sits down on his hat. Noticing the end of the tunnel ahead, the two quickly recompose themselves and pretend that nothing happened between them.

Essentials:

In the 1910s, Russian film theorist Lev Kuleshov demonstrated what would become known as the “Ku...

(English: Fregoli’s Serenade)

Summary:

Fregoli is passing an open window when he stops to serenade whoever is inside with his guitar. A soldier arrives to stake a prior claim on the window. Fregoli offers to accompany him, and the two begin to make music together. When Fregoli notices an irate man appear up above, he beckons the soldier to stand directly below. When the bedroom’s annoyed occupant returns with a bucket, the soldier is soaked with water and Fregoli flees, laughing.

Es...

(English: Maple Leaf Hunters)

Summary:

The beautiful princess Sarashina beguiles Koremochi, a passing warrior, with sake and an enchanting dance, and he falls into a bewitched sleep. Hachiman, sacred deity of the samurai, sends a mountain god to Koremochi. He warns the warrior that the princess is actually a demon, and grants him the Kogarasu Maru, a famous, thousand year-old sword. Koremochi battles the transformed Sarashina, who wields a maple branch against him.

Essentials:

Tr...

(English: Cinderella)

Summary:

After her stepmother leaves her behind, Cendrillon’s fairy godmother appears and magically conjures a coach, attendants, and a beautiful dress so she can attend the royal ball. She cautions Cendrillon to be back by midnight. Cendrillon dances with the prince, but when the clock strikes 12, she is returned to her ragged state in front of everyone. She flees, but the prince retrieves her slipper. Cendrillon is plagued by nightmares of clocks tolling midnigh...

Summary:

A trolley-mounted camera takes the audience on a phantom ride on the new rail line across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Essentials:

For most of the 19th century, travel between Brooklyn and New York City (now the borough of Manhattan) was limited to the various ferry lines that crossed the East River. The proposal for the first bridge between the two was approved shortly after the Civil War, but it was not completed and opened to the public for 16 years. F...

Summary:

Somewhere on the American frontier, a woman visits her friend’s home. The women are attacked by a group of raiders, and one is killed while fighting back. As the house burns, things look bleak for the other woman, but then two cowboys arrive and fight off the attackers.

Essentials:

At the dawn of film as an industry, virtually anyone with some capital and technical know-how could jump into the film business and potentially become quite successful relatively quickly. Most of...

Summary:

British sailors leap into action to rescue a man who has fallen overboard. One man immediately dives in to help the other stay afloat while a boat is quickly lowered over the side, and several additional swimmers line up to leap in and lend assistance if needed.

Essentials:

Between 1892 and 1894, the British Royal Navy launched eight new battleships that were designated as Royal Sovereign-class. They saw service in the Mediterranean, Home, and Channel Fleets until they beca...

(English: The Dreyfus Affair)

Summary:

A series of 11 scenes depicts key events in the development of the infamous 1890s French political scandal known as the Dreyfus affair.

Essentials:

In 1859, Alfred Dreyfus (see below) was born to a successful Jewish textile merchant in Alsace, a region on the far eastern edge of France. Bordering Germanic states to the north and west and Switzerland to the south, Alsace was also historically Germanic, but had been conquered by France in the ...

(English: Children Gathering Coins Scattered by Western Women)

Summary:

Two French women stand in the courtyard of a pagoda, scattering handfuls of coins onto the ground in front of them. They smile and laugh as a group of around 20 children scramble to collect the coins.

Essentials:

Lumière operator Gabriel Veyre returned to France from his travels through Latin America in October 1897. However, he soon set out again, this time for Asia. He visited Japan, China, and finally, in ...