National Film Registry - The Full List of Films

An athlete swings Indian clubs.

Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.

The earliest extant sound film, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost. It depicts William K.L. Dickson standing in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder.

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.

In a medium close-up shot of the first kiss ever recorded on screen, two fervent lovers cuddle and talk passionately at hair's breadth, just before the love-smitten gentleman decides to give his chosen one an innocent peck.

Documentary film depicting the 1897 boxing match between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons in Carson City, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day. Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it is the world's first feature film.

"This magnificent pageant is every year the mecca of tourists from all over the world. Our picture shows the following floats in the parade of 1899: No. 1, Corn; No. 2, Cherries; No. 3, Coffee; No. 4, Tea."

A burlesque on the John Rice/May Irwin kiss in "The Kiss" (1896).

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.

The first sequence (ca. 49 ft.), views of President William McKinley speaks to the crowd during his inauguration in Washington, DC. We see crowds on Pennsylvania Ave., NW, passing by the Willard Hotel during the inauguration festivities. A military unit on horseback rides down the court of honor, the area on Pennsylvania Ave., NW, going down 15th to 17th streets. President and McKinley and his party reviews the inaugural parade from a stand here. McKinley tips his hat to the crowd as his carriage passes the Willard Hotel. Stting beside McKinley in the carriage is Sen. Marcus A. Hanna of Ohio with members of the President's special escort, Troop A of the Ohio National Guard, and aides aides with guards. The man riding alone in the second carriage is Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

Short actuality film which documents the passage of a Ringling Brothers circus parade through a prosperous Black community in Indianapolis.

Shows a large open barge loaded with people of every nationality, disembarking at Ellis Island, N. Y. A most interesting and typical scene.

A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.

This beautiful subject, so dear to the life of every American man, woman and child, will create enthusiasm unbounded and an encore will positively result from the exhibition thereof. The picture is made in 10 scenes, showing the Fireman's dream, the view of sleeping quarters of the brave fire laddies, the interior of the engine house, the apparatus leaving the house, the fire run and the arrival at the fire and the rescue of woman and innocent children, etc., etc. No more touching scene could be enacted than this, and none is more ready to do homage to the Firemen than the American who justly places the value of life above riches. Unlike any other position in the City Government's service, the firemen are considered in a class wholly by themselves. Great latitude is allowed them, and where one is seen, especially in a crowded building, no matter where, one feels that he is protected and that the danger has been reduced to a minimum. Note the fireman dozing in his armchair in the fire house, and one sees the dream depicted on the wall over his head. He dreams that his wife and child are probably in danger, and in fancy he sees his wife placing the child in its crib for the night. Disturbed by the dream, he awakens and paces the floor nervously until an alarm is sounded and the scene changes to the sleeping quarters of the men. They jump out of their cots, hastily don some of their clothing and slide down the pole erected in the centre of the room and which leads to the main floor below. Meanwhile the horses bound out of their stalls, place themselves in front of the apparatus and are secured thereto by the men who have reached the ground. The doors are opened and out they dash at breakneck speed, threatening danger to whoever may place himself in their way. Then note the fire run, the greatest ever yet produced. One after another they dash by with almost lightning rapidity, until the very earth trembles with vibration from the iron hoofs of the grand horses, who appear to know that they are on an errand of mercy. They arrive at the fire, and immediately is seen the hook and ladder being placed in position, the firemen mounting the ladder, carrying the hose with which they finally extinguish the blaze, but not before they rescue several inmates of the burning dwelling, including a number of children. No more realistic picture could be imagined or offered to the public, who, without exception, praise the heroic efforts of the fire fighters, and applaud again and again. No picture show is complete without one of these marvelous life motion headliners.

A compilation of eight earlier films, also from 1896, that chronicle the adventure of Rip van Winkle. Rip encounters dwarf-like mountain-dwellers, gets drunk with them and awakes after twenty years, having significantly aged.

Collection of 21 American short silent films. The films were taken from April 18, 1904 to May 16, 1904 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and document various Westinghouse manufacturing plants.

In one long take, the camera shows us the journey of a subway train as it makes its way from Union Square to the old Grand Central Station.

The fiend faces the spectacular mind-bending consequences of his free-wheeling rarebit binge.

Footage of the aftermath of the great San Francisco earthquake, which struck on the morning of April 18, 1906, destroying a large part of the city.

From the front of a cable car, a motion picture camera records a trip down Market Street, San Francisco, California, from a point between 8th & 9th Streets, Eastward to the cable car turnaround at the Ferry Building.

The film captures life on Crow Agency, Crow Fair and a recreation of the Battle of Little Big Horn featuring four of Custer's Crow scouts.

An unscrupulous and greedy speculator decides to corner the wheat market for his own profit, establishing complete control over the markets.

A bored rich woman goes slumming as a domestic at a boarding house, where she falls in love with a sensitive young musician.

A drowsy pipe-smoker attempts to nap, only to be tormented relentlessly by the mischievous Princess Nicotine and her fairy companion.