Unseen Cinema DVDs

At a noisy inn, a young servant woman tries to sing a baby to sleep. The innkeeper and his wife berate and abuse the servant. Later that night, in hunger, misery, and desperation, she leaves and wanders through a Chagal-like landscape. The baby's cries wake up the innkeeper and his wife. Where has the woman gone? For whom is the lullaby?

Soldiers march a condemned man through a rural area to a bridge high above a stream. While a boy plays a drum, one soldier puts a noose around the prisoner's neck and stand him on the bridge's parapet. He thinks of his wife and children, then falls. The rope breaks from his weight, and he stays under water until he's beneath some reeds on the surface. The soldiers fire at him and pursue, but he's able to leave the stream and run for his life. The sunshine, being alive, and thoughts of his wife and children propel him forward. Will he make it?

A parody of gangland thrillers, with children playing the parts of adults, opens with a heist. Little Geezer, a handsome and self-confident gangster, brings the loot to one of Big Shot's holes in the wall where the instructions are to divide it equally. Little Geezer takes a bigger share. Meanwhile, Big Shot is under pressure from Scarface Macaroni and his East Side gang; they're undercutting Big Shot with cheap beer. They kill one of his guys and wound Little Geezer. Meanwhile, Geezer's fallen under the spell of a siren, Greta Garbage; love leads him to want to leave gang life. But, is there any way out? Will Big Shot let him leave?

On a desolate farm, a man and his grown daughter eek out a living. He's aging and ill; she's lonely and wan. He's adamant that she have no contact with men, so she's a prisoner of the farm. One hot day, while she takes a nap beside a haystack after plowing, a drifter approaches her. She sees a chance at a life less desperate. The drifter comes for supper and the old farmer let's the young man spend the night. But will he allow his daughter's longing to express itself, and if she must, who will she choose?

Three fellows dream of prize money and a chance for a real Hollywood contract by winning the Liberty-Pete Smith amateur movie contest. They work on a script, as their wastebasket and ashtrays fill. They head outside to shoot: down a manhole, up a telephone pole, through a keyhole, and at night using binoculars. Next they must edit their film, then it's time for a first screening of their product, "The Afternoon of a Rubberband." It's a montage of experimental images, including a razor blade cutting various objects, a baby in a cooking pot, and a snail in the path of a steamroller. After the screening, the boys wonder if that was their only shot at Hollywood fame.

Different objects filmed in different surroundings.

A faithfully suspenseful adaptation of a story by Saki which boasts an inadvertent post-modern attitude.

"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."

A busy street scene on Lower Broadway, New York City.

Taken in the immense excavation for the foundation of the new Macy building at the corner of Broadway and 34th Street, New York. An excellent study of modern American push and enterprise.

The camera is high above Manhattan near the top of the Times Building, pointing down. We see the edge of the parapet where the camera operator stands. The shot pans up, revealing first a four-story building next to the Times, then taller buildings in the neighborhood, and slowly an island full. We look across Manhattan, a bridge in the distance. Then a second shot starts at Bryant Square beneath, and pans from right to left, we see the hippodrome, buildings filling every block, the Hotel Gerald, water towers atop low buildings, a large church, and then the intersection of Broadway and Seventh - Times Square.

This short film shows a panoramic view of Manhattan Island, as it appeared in 1903. The island is viewed from the North River (Hudson River), and the view moves down the west side of the island towards The Battery. Both the waterfront and the skyline behind it are shown.

Time-lapse photography is used to show the manual dismantling and demolition of New York's Star Theatre at 13th Street and Broadway over a period of about 30 days.

A panorama of Coney Island, taken at night: the camera sweeps across the scene from a vantage point well above the area. It then moves in for closer views of Dreamland and Luna Park.

A camera mounted on a yacht travels the Hudson. A malfunction gives the film a ghostly look. A bridge is before us, tugs and small crafts everywhere. We go under the bridge and pass a large water storage cylinder, church spires, and many small craft. The feeling is of speed. Smokestacks dominate one shot. In one area, two- and three-story buildings go to the water's edge. Then a more pastoral area comes into view, but factories are not far away. Docks and piers and bridges signal an area of commerce. One stretch of coast has pleasure boats tied at piers; a hillside resort dominates the frame. Trees on a green hill conclude the trip.

This groundbreaking silent documentary captures the beauty and majesty of the New York City in its streets, skyscrapers, bridges, rail yards and harbors.

In 1626, Dutch traders bought Manhattan for $24 of beads and gift product. Within 30 years, there were 1,000 residents, and 300 years later, there were 8 million. This film celebrates the muscle, size, and majesty of Manhattan, starting at the river's edge where a huge-jawed steam shovel dredges. It's on to an ocean liner, then to a hole in the ground where men swing pickaxes, sledgehammers, and shovels. The camera then slowly examines a stately building by the shore. Behind and beside it is the city.

A montage of the skyscrapers of Manhattan opens with a succession of stationary views of the upper portions of numerous buildings. This is followed by a wide variety of fluid shots, which also begin to show more and more of the surrounding city, in addition to the skyscrapers themselves.

Arrival in the Bronx is shown with a view from an elevated train as it enters the city. Then follows a montage of sights from the Bronx. Many typical neighborhood activities are shown, along with scenes from many local businesses.

In New York, a distraught woman sits in her rented room in a rocking chair. Outside, people shop and engage in commerce, men light pipes, hands type. A mother and baby play peek-a-boo: things are okay for many. The woman continues to rock. A drunk is arrested; a Salvation Army band plays, kids run around. Protesting unemployed workers appear. The rocking woman's face becomes more distorted. Military officers parade. A man picks through discarded clothes, hobos sit listless. These men are veterans of the Great War, now forgotten, many alcoholic. Passersby ignore men passed out on sidewalks. The woman stops rocking and takes action.

The gang's teacher wins a trip to Europe, with the gang accompanying him; a hectic and stress-filled trip, including mishaps by Farina at Mt Vesuvius and the Eiffel tower. Oh what a nightmare this has become; If it was only a dream.

Romantic antics abound among the guests at a luxury hotel, including a stage director, an eccentric millionaire, and the daughter of a financial backer.

A story told with few words. We see a solitary man and a solitary woman, each alone with their thoughts. She is in the country, staring out a window. Nature is quiet, waiting for spring, trees are bare. He is in the city, walking from the docks, watching, somewhat aimless. She walks a country lane. Both are alone. She writes him a letter, offering an opportunity. Will he take it?

Simple title cards link ten home movies shot at Maine's Windy Ledge Farm, at a neighbor's place, and visiting the Brownes in Chocorua, New Hampshire. We watch an uncle mow, farm hands haying with the White Mountains in the background, various young children playing, a lad holding his cat while carrying milk cans on a yoke, a pointer stalking a cat, the annual burning of brush and rubbish, and a montage of chores and relaxation on the farm. The last shot is of spring, a flag in the background. The films are sweet and straightforward, with clear black and white images.

An artistic love ode to the town of Santa Fe in the form of a day in the life of this western art community in its creative heyday. Scenes from a time when Santa Fe still had vestiges of the Old West.