What's the oldest film you've ever seen?

LittleBook

As far as I know, mine would be Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) a stunning German expressionist film ... but don't let that put you off ... an absolute must-see for horror fans.

... Although I have seen Roundhay Garden Scene

Wikipedia - Category: Films by Year

I don't mean for this to be a competition (I'm sure plenty of people can "beat" 1920!) just interested in how far back people have explored.

don ramo

the oldest film a recall seeing is the time machine 1960, watched it about 10 years ago, i was 16 and thought it was class, saw the newer version (2002) and was severly dissapointed with it,

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/

i might have seen older ones, but probably didnt know it,

Skerries

I think we have all seen the earliest Edison films so the first oldest full length movie i have watched is Max Shrecks Nosferatu (1922)

sensibleken

Ive seen The Golem (1915)

LittleBook

don ramo wrote: »

the oldest film a recall seeing is the time machine 1960, watched it about 10 years ago, i was 16 and thought it was class, saw the newer version (2002) and was severly dissapointed with it,

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/

i might have seen older ones, but probably didnt know it,

Hey, I watched that just the other day! I think it won the Oscar for best effects that year, I loved the dress shop dummy evolving over time, loved the whole thing to be honest.

Skerries wrote: »

I think we have all seen the earliest Edison films

Yes, I was going to say "oldest feature film" but I didn't want to exclude anything, particularly now since I just now remembered I've also seen Le voyage dans la lune (1902) which runs at 14 minutes.

Pretty sure it's available to watch online if anyone cares to search it.

Skerries wrote: »

Max Shrecks Nosferatu (1922)

Iconic and truly frightening

sensibleken wrote: »

Ive seen The Golem (1915)

Don't know that one but I read that it's another German "expressionist classic".

Busi_Girl08

The Great Train Robbery (1902) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7949193416885414135#

Nosferatu (1922) - I thought it was much better than Bela Lugosi's Dracula.

Galvasean

I've seen a few films by the Lumiere Brothers circa 1895.
For those interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nj0vEO4Q6s

lynski

Great thread!
I was so lucky to see a movie, one Saturday night in Temple Bar. I just wondered up and got in and I saw The Battleship Potemkin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battleship_Potemkin with a full orchestra playing the score.
It was stunning.

Duggy747

Had this up on my site last month:

This film, the first ever adaption of Lewis Carroll's tale, was released in 1903. The novel itself came out 37 years beforehand and this film was released 8 years after the birth of cinema.........so, I'm taking a wild guess that the film wasn't released in IMAX 3D with the latest in CGI or even "typical" camera technology!

The film itself was 12 minutes long but due to the fact that only 1 print exists and it's almost a century old it was in shìte condition, with only 8 minutes restored. Heh, 12 minute movie, you say? Well, back then that was the longest produced film in England.

BFI National Archive, who held the last print of the movie, finally restored what they could and released it earlier this year.

Naturally, it's still in iffy condition but it's quite bizzare to see a movie so old. There's something charming and creepy about the film in equal measures!

don ramo wrote:

the oldest film a recall seeing is the time machine 1960, watched it about 10 years ago, i was 16 and thought it was class, saw the newer version (2002) and was severly dissapointed with it,

When we got satellite tv back in 97 this was the 1st movie I watched on TNT (now TCM) and I absolutely loved it. The new one was cack, only bit I like was the moon falling to earth.

TanG411

I saw Lumiere films in college alright. Pretty crazy things going on like phallic suns eating long trains and stuff.

The earliest I watched is 'The Lodger' from Hitchcock. Don't know what year it was though, I'll check it there.

LittleBook

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

The Great Train Robbery (1902) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7949193416885414135#

Thanks for the link, can't get to it til later though.

Galvasean wrote: »

I've seen a few films by the Lumiere Brothers circa 1895.
For those interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nj0vEO4Q6s

Again, thanks for the link, which one is it? This and the trains above reminded me of the (supposedly) urban myth about how terrified people were to see The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station

lynski wrote: »

Great thread!
I was so lucky to see a movie, one Saturday night in Temple Bar. I just wondered up and got in and I saw The Battleship Potemkin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battleship_Potemkin with a full orchestra playing the score.
It was stunning.

That must have been amazing! They're doing something similar with Metropolis (1927, another fantastic early film) at the NCH soon but it's sold out

domcq

'Freaks' from 1932

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913/

Entertaining from start to finish. More endearing characters than in any modern movie i've seen

LittleBook

Duggy747 wrote: »

Had this up on my site last month:

Alice in Wonderland (1903)

Thanks, can't wait to get home and watch these links.

T-Machine180 wrote: »

The earliest I watched is 'The Lodger' from Hitchcock. Don't know what year it was though, I'll check it there.

1927 ... you "beat" me My earliest Hitchcock is Number 17 (1932)

LittleBook

domcq wrote: »

'Freaks' from 1932

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913/

Entertaining from start to finish. More endearing characters than in any modern movie i've seen

Haven't seen it but the OH loves that one, the Ramones connection wouldn't have done it any harm for him

Otis Driftwood

Probably The Birth of a Nation.

Havnt seen it in years.

mike65

The early Lumiere Brothera stuff including the thrilling "the Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station"

losthorizon

The Oldest Film Ive seen is "Birth of a Nation" (1915). A bit of a racist classic with the Klu Klux Klan featuring.



Those posters who mentioned The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and especially Nosferatu are right - they are horror classics.

partyatmygaff

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Not a particularly great movie but one of the best WW1 movies anyway.

Knifey Spoony

I have the original King Kong (1933) on DVD, which would be the oldest film I've seen. A film that was truly ahead of its time. Nosferatu has been on my list of films to watch for a long time. One of these days...

DOC09UNAM

Probably Ben Hur, haven't a clue what year it is though.

mikhail

The oldest I can think of is Animal Crackers (1930).

Einhard

Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz lang. Absolutely stunning film. It's amazing how many subsequent films were influenced by it.

bnt

nedtheshed wrote: »

Probably The Birth of a Nation.

Ditto, I think - it's from 1915, and one of the first long-form features ever made. I've seen older shorts than that e.g. works by Georges Méliès such as A Trip To The Moon (1902) - and you can, too.

losthorizon

partyatmygaff wrote: »

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Not a particularly great movie but one of the best WW1 movies anyway.

Ive seen this, IMO not just one of the best WW1 films but one of the best films of all time, period.

I remember reading that one of the actors filming the movie was so affected by the experience that he beecame a pacificist. When WW2 broke out he was put in a very awkard situation. In the end he enlisted as a medical orderly and showed huge courage under fire - I cant remember if he survived the war or not.

One other early (its silent) movie worth mentioning is Sunrise. It doesnt seem to matter that the actors dont speak as the visuals are simply so beautiful - they really are. It all revolves around a husband who plans to kill his wife and take up with his lover.

mike65

If you want to catch an early horror classic Carl Dreyers Vampyr is on Channel 201 at 9 pm every so often.

Nolanger

Have the feature film Tillie's punctured romance on DVD.

Ruu_Old

Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi.

bonerm

1914. It was this ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNeMvq6jedo

I can see why the world went to war. They were bored of watching rubbish movies.

indough

saw an old duchamp movie (if you could call it that) from i think 1926, the lodger as well which i think was from '27

i may have seen earlier but i cant think of them right now, watched a lot of very old movies as part of a course before

LittleBook

As a matter of interest, a lot of these films are in the Public Domain.

Renn

I'm happy to say mine is a Buster Keaton short called One Week (1920). As with a lot of his stuff from the 20s, it's got those great stunts that make you want to watch it again and again. A lot of the stuff you see in One Week can be found in his later feature length Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928). The man was a genius.

johnny_ultimate

Think Voyage to the Moon is my earliest too, although have possibly seen bits and pieces from a few other ones like the Great Train Robbery. Voyage to the Moon is an astonishing film, even today - the effects are very haunting and memorable. Storytelling is basic to the extreme (tends to be when you don't have sound ) but the Lumiere Brothers had a fairly effective grasp of the technology from the very, very early days.

Mickeroo

voyage to the moon or nosferatu for me i think.

storm2811

Duggy747 wrote: »

Had this up on my site last month:

Ahh that's what I was going to say,I like it anyway but I've never seen many other films from the same time so I've nothing to compare it to.

Fighting Irish

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033563/


1941

johndoe99

Dracula (1931)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021814/

Have it on DVD

The Floyd p

Frankenstein (1910) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0001223/

mudokon

Can't remember exactly what the oldest film I have watched is but from recent viewings it would be The Wages of Fear. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have recently bought Nosferatu with Max Shreck so when I watch that it will definitely be the oldest.

Handsome Bob

Nosferatu would be the first, then it'd be a big jump to 12 Angry Men in 1957, I still rate the latter as one of the best films I've ever seen.

ziedth

I'm not really about old films to my shame.

I'd actually say 12 angry men. What was that? 1959ish?

Not too bad I suppose.

Edit: didn't see your post LZ, I was close with '59 tbf

Tomohawk

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

pwd

The Land Before Time

Cocoon

BopNiblets

Not sure exactly, but I had a look at the Batman 1943 version!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taXmkEG1u3w

:pac:

mikhail

That was a serial - a series of short episodes shown in cinemas before main features; closer to a TV series than a film. Hilariously racist propaganda though.

jaykhunter

I tried watching Nosferatu (1922) but i couldn't get over the speech cards! I just couldn't do it! Some pretty cool shots though

emmacxxx

I have nooooo idea!!

Don't know if this counts but the Roundhay Garden Scene circa 1888

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1i40rnpOsA

Oldest proper film I've seen is probably Birth of a Nation too.

JohnnyRyan99

Citizen Kane for my English tests in UCC...

Ann22

Apart from Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardys' many great movies, not to forget Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid' the earliest film I've watched was 'Nosferatu'. Brilliant, I suspect Barlow from Stephen King's 'Salem's lot' mini series was based on him.

'King Kong' '1933 then 1939's 'Gone with the Wind' stand out for me.

ziedth

Gone with the wind was 1939? Jesus.

damagegt

I think mine would have to be "All quite on the western front" (1930) I might have seen earlier but this made a lasting impression on me .