The year 1900 in film involved some significant events.

Events

* Reulos, Goudeau & Co. invent Mirographe, a 21 mm amateur format. * The Lumière Brothers premiere their new Lumiere Wide format for the 1900 World Fair. At 75 mm wide, it has held the record for over 100 years as the widest format yet developed. * Raoul Grimoin-Sanson also creates a sensation at the 1900 World Fair with his multi-projector Cinéorama spectacle, which uses ten 70 mm projectors to create a simulated 360-degree balloon ride over Paris. The exhibit is closed before it formally opens, however, due to legitimate health and safety concerns regarding the heat of the combined projectors ons, and releases the format as La Petite. * Gaumont-Demeny release their own 15 mm amateur format, Pocket Chrono. * Release of the first film version of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'', an adaptation of the duel scene, with French actress Sarah Bernhardt playing the title rôle (''sic.'') and accompanying recorded sound. * Making of the first film to feature the detective character Sherlock Holmes, '' Sherlock Holmes Baffled'', by the

American Mutoscope and Biograph Company The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition ...

. *'' Jeanne d'Arc'' becomes the first film of considerable length (10 mins) to be shown entirely in colour. * William N. Selig made ''The Chicago Stockyards—From Hoof to Market'' for Chicago-based Philip Danforth Armour, a prominent businessman in the meatpacking industry, showing the full meatpacking process from cattle being unloaded at the stockyards to

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

. Studio lights didn't exist yet so stage spotlights had to be borrowed from the Richard Mansfield Theatrical Company to film inside the

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is not ...

Notable films released in 1900

#

* ''20,000 Employees Entering Lord Armstrong's Elswick Works, Newcastle upon Tyne'', produced by Mitchell and Kenyon – ( GB)

A

* '' Army Life; or, How Soldiers Are Made: Mounted Infantry'' (lost), a documentary directed by Robert W. Paul – ( GB) * ''

As Seen Through a Telescope ''As Seen Through a Telescope'' (AKA: ''The Professor and His Field Glass'') is a 1900 in film, 1900 UK, British Short subject, short silent film, silent comedy film, directed by George Albert Smith (inventor), George Albert Smith, featuring an ...

'', directed by

George Albert Smith George Albert Smith Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was an American religious leader who served as the eighth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early life Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territo ...

– ( GB) * ''

Attack on a China Mission ''Attack on a China Mission'' is a 1900 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, showing some sailors coming to the rescue of the wife of a missionary killed by Boxers. The four-shot film, according to Michael Brooke of ...

'', directed by James Williamson – ( GB) * ''Automobile Parade'', directed by

William C. Paley William C. Paley (1857 – 31 May 1924) was an early cameraman and film pioneer. He worked with X-Rays before health issues led him to switch to film projects. He built a film projector called the Kalatechnoscope. He was hired as a cameraman at ...

– ( US)

B

* ''Battle of Mafeking'', directed by James H. White – ( US) * '' The Beggar's Deceit'', directed by Cecil Hepworth – ( GB)

C

* ''Chinese Magic'' (aka ''Yellow Peril''), directed by Walter R. Booth – ( GB) * ''The Clown and the Alchemist'', directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith – ( US)

D

* ''Danse Serpentine (In a Lion's Cage)'', directed by Alice Guy – (

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

) * ''Davy Jones' Locker'', directed by

Frederick S. Armitage Frederick S. Armitage (June 19, 1874 in Seneca Falls, New York – January 3, 1933 in Ecorse, Michigan) was an early American motion picture cinematographer and director, working primarily for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Often ...

– ( US)

E

* '' The Enchanted Drawing'', directed by J. Stuart Blackton – ( US) * ''

Explosion of a Motor Car ''Explosion of a Motor Car'' (AKA: ''The Delights of Automobiling'') is a 1900 British short black-and-white silent comedy film, directed by Cecil M. Hepworth, featuring an exploding automobile scattering the body parts of its driver and pass ...

'', directed by Cecil Hepworth – ( GB)

F

* ''

A Fantastical Meal ''A Fantastical Meal'' (french: Le Repas fantastique) is a 1900 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. Plot Two women and a man, attempting to have dinner, find themselves confronted with magical happenings: the chairs move, th ...

(Le Repas fantastique)'', directed by Georges Méliès – (

) * '' Faust and Marguerite'', directed by Edwin S. Porter, based on the 1859

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been '' Faust'' (1859); his '' Roméo et Juliette'' (1867) also rema ...

– ( US)

G

* '' Going to Bed Under Difficulties (Le Déshabillage impossible)'', directed by Georges Méliès – (

) * '' Grandma's Reading Glass'', directed by

– ( GB)

H

* ''How He Missed His Train (Le Réveil d'un monsieur pressé)'', directed by Georges Méliès – (

) * ''

How It Feels to Be Run Over '' How It Feels to Be Run Over'' is a one-minute British silent film, made in 1900, and directed by Cecil M. Hepworth. As in other instances of the very earliest films, the film presents the audience with the images of a shocking experience, wi ...

'', directed by Cecil Hepworth – ( GB)

J

* ''A Jersey Skeeter'', directed by Arthur Marvin – ( US) * ''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the corona ...

(Jeanne d'Arc)'', directed by Georges Méliès – (

)

K

* ''The Kiss'', directed by Edwin S. Porter – ( US)

L

* ''Ladies' Skirt Nailed to a Fence'', produced by

Bamforth & Co Ltd Bamforth & Co Ltd was a publishing, film and illustration company based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England. History Bamforth & Co Ltd was started in 1870 by James Bamforth, a portrait photographer in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. In 1883 he beg ...

– ( GB) * ''

Let Me Dream Again ''Let Me Dream Again'' is a 1900 British Short film, short silent film, silent drama film, directed by George Albert Smith (inventor), George Albert Smith, featuring a man dreaming about an attractive young woman and then waking up next to his ...

'', directed by

– ( GB)

M

* ''Messrs Lumb And Co., Leaving The Works, Huddersfield'', produced by Mitchell and Kenyon – ( GB) * ''Eine moderne Jungfrau von Orléans'', directed by Max Skladanowsky – (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

) * ''The Mystic Swing'', directed by Edwin S. Porter – ( US)

O

* '' The One-Man Band'', directed by Georges Méliès – (

)

R

* ''Reproduction of the McGovern and Dixon Fight'', starring Terry McGovern and George Dixon – ( US) * ''Rough Sea'', produced by

. – ( GB)

S

* '' Sherlock Holmes Baffled'', directed by Arthur Marvin – ( US) * ''

Soldiers of the Cross The Evangelical International Church of the Soldiers of the Cross of Christ (also known as the Soldiers of the Cross Church) was organized in the early 1920s by an American businessman named Ernest William Sellers, who began holding evening relig ...

'' (lost), directed by Joseph Perry – ( Australia) * ''

Solser en Hesse () were two short Dutch silent films by M.H. Laddé and J.W. Merkelbach from 1900 and 1906, respectively, featuring the comedians Lion Solser and Piet Hesse. Both running for 1 "act", the first film was distributed by Edison's Ideal in 35mm fi ...

'' (lost), directed by

M.H. Laddé M.H. (Machiel Hendricus) Laddé (5 November 1866 – 18 February 1932) was a Dutch photographer and film director. He was the director of the first Dutch fictional film, the 1896 comedy ''Gestoorde hengelaar'' (English: ''Disturbed Angler'').< ...

– (

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

)

T

* '' The Two Blind Men (Les Deux Aveugles)'' (lost), directed by Georges Méliès – (

)

U

* ''Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel'', directed by Edwin S. Porter – ( US) * ''Uncle Josh's Nightmare'', directed by

Edwin S. Porter Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 – April 30, 1941) was an American film pioneer, most famous as a producer, director, studio manager and cinematographer with the Edison Manufacturing Company and the Famous Players Film Company. Of over ...

– ( US)

V

* ''Le village de Namo – Panorama pris d'une chaise à porteurs'', directed by Gabriel Veyre – (

)

Births

Date unknown

Juanita Angeles, Filipina pre-war and silent film actress

Deaths

* November 22 –

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', '' The Pirates of Penzance ...

, producer of musicals, half of the team of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

(born 1842) * November 30 –

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, playwright whose works were made into films (born 1854) * December 31 – Hannibal Goodwin, retired minister, in 1886 invented nitrate film roll. (born 1822)

Debut

* Sarah Bernhardt * Benoit Constant Coquelin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1900 In Film Film by year Articles containing video clips