Gaumont Treasures (1897-1913) - Vol 1 - Alice Guy [Freakyflicks]

The invention of cinema—and its growth into a sophisticated art form—are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself.



DVD 1 Alice Guy

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).

Screenshots: http://freakyflicks.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=6&action=display&thread=4466


1897
The Fisherman at the Stream
Bathing in a Stream
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter

1898
The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man
At the Hypnotist's
The Burglars
Disappearing Act
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

1899
At the Club
Wonderful Absinthe

1900
Avenue de l’Opéra
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder
At the Photographer's
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance
The Landlady
Turn-of-the-Century Surgery
Pierrette’s Escapades*
At the Floral Ball*
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy

1902
Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard
Midwife to the Upper Class
An Untimely Intrusion
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs

1903
How Monsieur Takes His Bath
Faust and Mephistopheles

1905
The O’Mers in “The Bricklayers”
The Statue
The Magician’s Alms
Clown, Dog and Balloon
Spain
The Tango
The Malagueña and the Bullfighter
Cook & Rilly’s Trained Rooster
Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque
Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène”
Saharet Performs the Bolero*
Polin Performs “The Anatomy of a Draftee”†
Dranem Performs “The True Jiu-Jitsu”†
Dranem Performs “Five O’Clock Tea”†
Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”* †
Félix Mayol Performs “The Trottins’ Polka”†
Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs”†

1906
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ
An Obstacle Course
Madame’s Cravings
A Sticky Woman
The Hierarchies of Love
The Cruel Mother
A Story Well Spun
The Drunken Mattress
The Parish Priest’s Christmas
The Truth Behind the Ape-Man
The Consequences of Feminism
Ocean Studies
The Game-Keeper’s Son

1907
The Race for the Sausage
The Glue
The Fur Hat
The Cleaning Man
A Four-Year-Old Hero
The Rolling Bed
The Irresistible Piano
On the Barricade
The Dirigible “Homeland”

* In the original hand-tinted color
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène”





Curated by Pierre Philippe

Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood



Format: AVI
Format/Info: Audio Video Interleave
Bit rate: 1332 Kbps
Writing application: Lavf51.12.1

Codec: xvid
Bit rate: 1191 Kbps
Width: 720 pixels
Height: 480 pixels
Aspect ratio: 1.500
Frame rate: 29.970 fps
Standard: NTSC
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.115

Audio
Codec: MPEG-1 Audio layer 3
Codec profile: Joint stereo
Bit rate: 128 Kbps
Bit rate mode: CBR
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 48 KHz
Resolution: 16 bits