Small Local Trains

Small Local Trains 1960

6.60

Émile Durand, an insecticide manufacturer, is appalled to learn that his son Gérard has fallen in love with Suzy, the daughter of a travelling theatre company. Realising his father will never favour the union, Gérard joins the company on their next tour. In an attempt to heal the rift, Durand’s wife goes after Gérard and ends up performing in their next play…

1960

Jack

Jack 1913

1

The story of "Jack" is well-known. It is a beautiful story of a natural child. His mother, Ida de Borancy, worships the dear little nameless and fatherless being whom she decides, as he is getting on in years, to place in a boarding school. The child's professor of literature is a certain Amaury D'Argenton, a failure of the faculty, and an uninspired poet. During one of her visits to the institution, Mme. de Borancy is attracted by D'Argenton, and falls in love with him. The "Ne'er-do-Well" soon gives up his starving position and makes his abode with her, exercising over her absolute control. He soon learns to hate little Jack and forces her to leave him permanently at school. The poor child, unaccustomed to the separation, runs away, only to find, when he arrives at his former home, that his mother has moved and is now living thirty miles away. He undertakes the journey on foot, and reaches his mother's house completely exhausted. Here he meets Dr. Rivals and his daughter, Cecil.

1913

Mothers of France

Mothers of France 1916

4.70

A mother loses first her son and then her husband in the trenches of France during the First World War. She devotes herself to the French cause and to helping those wounded in the war.

1916

Chicot the Jester

Chicot the Jester 1913

1

The film based on the novel of the same name by Alexandre Duma, is concerned with fraternal royal strife at the court of Henri III. Tragically caught between the millstones of history are the gallant Count de Bussy and the woman he adores, la Dame de Monsoreau.

1913

The Mystery of Notre-Dame de Paris

The Mystery of Notre-Dame de Paris 1912

5.00

Drama in which the love between Claude and Germaine is tested when Claude is falsely accused and Germaine's father doesn't approve of their relationship.

1912

Balaoo the Demon Baboon

Balaoo the Demon Baboon 1913

6.00

An ape, turned near human by Dr. Coriolis and given the name 'Balaoo', is smitten by the beauty of Coriolis' niece, Madeleine. Being inquisitive, though, he runs off, getting into mischief, and falls in with a poacher who saves his life. Acting now as his slave Balaoo kills a man for the poacher, but balks on his orders to kidnap Madeleine, deciding instead to set a trap for the poacher.

1913

The Puppet Looks for Lodgement

The Puppet Looks for Lodgement 1921

4.50

The stick man Fantoche is looking for a home, but there doesn't seem to be any room anywhere, not even in Hell.

1921

Zigomar - the Black Scourge - Episode 1

Zigomar - the Black Scourge - Episode 1 1913

1.00

Paulin Broquet, the great Parisian detective, has brought the notorious bandit, Zigomar, to justice. Determined not to let the law punish him, he had taken poison in the Hall of Justice. Then he was brought to a hospital where he lay motionless and was visited by hundreds of persons. Among the visitors was a slender woman, dressed in black, who secreted herself in the hospital, and, when all the others had gone, went to the bedside of Zigomar and administered an antidote for poisoning.

1913

Gavroche at Luna Park

Gavroche at Luna Park 1912

4.00

Funnicus has made a futile endeavor all day to be cheerful, but conditions will not permit. Seeking forgetfulness, he took his despondent way towards Luna Park, and started to "do" the place thoroughly. An overplump dame was giving tense ear to the whispered warnings of a Gypsy sooth-sayer. An opportunity. Funnicus crossed the swarthy female's palm with much silver, and promptly slipped into her wrappings and place. The overplump dame was then regaled with a series of disclosures concerning her future affairs of the heart which brought Funnicus an unexpected clump on the ear. Funnicus, to mete out counterpunishment to the saucy lady, proceeded to chase her over the zig-gag stairways, windy passages, electric railways, sea wave track, automobile armchairs, etc. At last, to escape retaliation, he borrowed an attendant's costume and the Tzigane bandmaster's baton, one, two, three. The syncopated sounds begin their infectious course and everybody finds himself tripping the light fantastic.

1912

In the Limelight

In the Limelight 1912

5.00

Short melodrama. Two former lovers meet twenty years later when the man has to compete with the son of the woman.

1912

In the Land of Darkness

In the Land of Darkness 1912

5.50

In 1912 Jasset turned from fantasy and spectacle to realism in making the first of two Zola adaptations, as part of Éclair's new series of social dramas. For Au pays des ténèbres, based on Germinal, he took his crew to Charleroi in Belgium to film in authentic locations, and although he updated the story to the present, he went to great lengths to recreate in the studio the detail of the actual mining galleries, exploiting the ability of film to be a recorder of contemporary reality.

1912

Wilie and the Old Suitor

Wilie and the Old Suitor 1912

4.00

Willie loved his mother. Yes, and he was selfish about it, too. He didn't want a new father and when the old Baron Anatole called lo pay attention to Mrs. Darfeuil, Willie made it most interesting for him. The cute little fellow was original in his methods and the thorough manner in which he demonstrated his dislike for the Baron is certainly amusing. The youngster who plays Willie, is a very clever little performer and the comedy situations are handled in such a laughable manner that the subject is indeed an enjoyable one.

1912

Love and Science

Love and Science 1912

6.00

A work-obsessed inventor uses a video-telephone to spy on his girlfriend, who in turn uses film to teach him a lesson. (MoMA)

1912