Episode Details

Maybe it’s just Tristan who is surprised by the film that topped this season’s collective list. But its inclusion at all, and its ubiquity in submitters' lists, reflects that the balance of narrative and actuality is not quite as heavily weighted in the former’s favor as one might expect, even for as early (or late, 11 years after the “birth of cinema” as many measure it) as 1906.

Films mentioned:

• A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906) - Harry Miles
• The ? Motorist (1906) - Walter R. Booth
• Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) - J. Stuart Blackton
• The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906) - Georges Méliès
• The Consequences of Feminism (1906) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) - Edwin S. Porter
• The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) - Charles Tait
• Fantasmagorie (1908) - Émile Cohl