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

Christian T

Christian T

Well-Known Member
Always a favourite question of mine to ask in conversations about film.

Mine is The Cabinet of Dr Caligari made in 1920. An incredible German Expressionis horror classic with a very intriguing visual design and an influential, creepy story.

top-10-scariest-movies-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.jpg caligari.jpgTHE-CABINET-OF-DR.-CALIGARI.jpg

It's public domain as well, so watch it on YouTube, I certainly recommend the tinted version.
 
You can see it here:
It starred Theda Bara: the original vampish 'bad girl' & it was made in 1915, making it one of her earliest films. A fire 9I believe) destroyed most of her films but a few remain completely intact. Considering when they were made, they were very daring indeed!
 
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Interesting discussion. I haven't seen that film, but I just might give it a shot. I like old films because they look so trippy. I have seen some Georges M?li?s films and Nosfuratu. However, I often don't like the music that goes along with the silent films, so sometimes, I just mute it and turn on some other music while I watch. Haha :) I think you can find these films on Youtube as well. I know A Trip To The Moon by Georges M?li?s is on Youtube.
 
I think the oldest I have seen was probably Nosferatu in 1922. The next oldest I think was Metropolis from 1927.
 
I've seen several Lumiere Brothers and Melies short films and shorts produced by the Edison company and things like that, but the oldest silent film I've seen that counts as a feature is probably D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (and yes, it's exactly as horrifyingly racist as you've heard, I thought Tarantino's Django Unchained subverted some imagery from it in interesting ways).

The Birth of a Nation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Birth of a Nation :: rogerebert.com :: Great Movies
 
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rainbowdragon said:
Interesting discussion. I haven't seen that film, but I just might give it a shot. I like old films because they look so trippy. I have seen some Georges M?li?s films and Nosfuratu. However, I often don't like the music that goes along with the silent films, so sometimes, I just mute it and turn on some other music while I watch. Haha :) I think you can find these films on Youtube as well. I know A Trip To The Moon by Georges M?li?s is on Youtube.
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I've seen some of those as well. M?li?s always amazes me with how far ahead of his time he is with those wonderful special effects. I've also seen Nosferatu, and really enjoyed the creepy aesthetic, and of course the brilliantly designed character of Count Orlok (Dracula). I got a little tired of the melodrama towards the end, though, and would have liked to have seen more of the vampire. I also thought Max Shreck could have given his character a bit more range, as his sexual hunger face is the same as for stomach hunger. Still, it's very impressive for its time. The influential aeffect of Orlok springing up from his coffin is incredible, and it is interestingly contaisn the first example of cross-cutting between events taking place in two completely different locations but at the same time - this is when Orlok is drawing in the female lead and leading her to jump off the balcony.

I think Metropolis might be my equal favourite silent film. I just love the incredible scope and thematic value of the story, the performance of the lead actress, and the visual effects and sets. Curious to see the "Sculptor" mentioned so prominently in the opening credits, because, of course, the sculptor created all of the city landscapes.

Lastly, I've also, once, muted the music. It was the 1920 version - whoops, that is the equal oldest film I've seen - of Jekyll and Hyde, starring John Barrymore. The music was ridiculously merry towards the end, where Hyde was murdering more and more people, so much so that it was impossible to treat it as a horror film and not a black comedy.
 
I've seen a few from the late 1890s but can't remember the names, the oldest I remember the title of I think is 'The Chimney Sweep and the Miller' from 1900.
 
Hapci-fr.gif


Fred Ott's Sneeze (also known as Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze) is an 1894 American, short, black-and-white, silent documentary film shot by William K.L. Dickson and starring Fred Ott. It was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.

In the five-second film one of Thomas Edison's assistants, Fred Ott, takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. According to the Library of Congress, "It was filmed for publicity purposes as a series of still photographs to accompany an article in Harper's Weekly".
 
Sylar and Ailas, I hate to be a pain, but the title of the thread does say "feature film," as opposed to short film, since there are so many easily-viewed very old short films around. Still, thanks for the interesting responses, but could you also share the oldest full-length film you've seen? I'm very curious.
 
I think those should still count as they were from the early age of film where that was the average length, they were just films, it's only as the technology advanced and became more common that films got longer and we had the concept of short film and feature film. My earliest feature film was still mentioned in my post, Nosferatu. Then after that it would have to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
 
I do see what you're saying, but I think there's a big difference between how people view films from the late 19th century that are only a few seconds long, and how they view ones that are about an hour long with an extended narrative, making them closer to modern-day films and inviting comparison with them. I'd be happy to hear about both, though, but for a lot of people there's a big difference between the oldest short they've seen - I think it's still an appropriate term like "silent film" and "black and white film", both of which are also retrospective labels - and the oldest feature they've seen. Evidently not with many of the people on this site though.

I can see how those should still count, it's just not my main curiosity, I suppose, as selfish as that sounds.

Anyway, I have always adored Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ever since I was three. I used to watch it all the time, and I still love to revisit it, not just for the nostalgia but because now I can appreciate how ground-breaking it was, how visually impressive it is, and I still love the charming dwarves, the theatrically wicked queen and the lovely princess herself, as well as the dramatic 30s feel of it.

Curiously, my other early childhood favourite, The Wizard of Oz, now grates on me with its Hollywood musical cheesiness. I still respect it as a classic though, but I just can't sit through it anymore.

So yes, by all means tell me both your earliest feature film AND your earliest short film.
 
I agree, Snow White was somewhat the Toy Story of its time. The first full length animation that showed the medium was capable of more than people thought. On top of that the animation still holds up today. I tried to re-watch The Wizard of Oz early last year and couldn't sit through it after the characters were introduced. It could be a common opinion to think that the majority of older films are cheesy today, just because the technology and acting style has changed so much, but this film takes it to the extreme.
 
Of Mice and Men is probably the oldest I have seen. The book being written in 1937, and the film in 1992. I watched this film in an English lesson in High School in my exam years, the film was interesting and had a good storyline to go with it. So basically, it tells the story of two migrant ranch workers, who move from town to town in search of a new job to earn money during the Great Depression in California, USA. The end is tragic.

I have read both the book and watched the film. I didn't really understand the story that well until I actually watched the film, but it's really hard to distinguish what happens in the book because it's just words. But the film was pretty easy to understand.

 
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I think the oldest I've seen is "The Jazz Singer" with Al Jolson. Although "The Passion of Joan of Arc" might be even older than that. It's a silent film and considered a classic although to me there were way too many closeups of Joan's face and glittery tearstreaked eyes.

I have some early Cecil B. DeMille's in my collection: "The Sign of the Cross", "Four Frightened People", "Union Pacific", "The Crusaders" and "Cleopatra." Also the complete "Thin Man" collection with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I am waiting to see who is going to play opposite Johnny Depp in the remake. Powell and Loy were perfect together and a hard act to follow.
 
The Jazz Singer, that's the first talkie, isn't it? How is the pacing of the film and the natural quality of the dialogue. Is it noticeably awkward, or does the rawness of the synchronised sound not get in the way of your enjoyment?

I found the 1931 Dracula extremely awkward and sluggishly paced, but I loved the Frankenstein version from the same film. That could also have been due to the direction and the acting, but the use of sound was certainly a key factor there.

I also must say that it's very curious to see a range of about 80 years of personal earliest films. I love hearing about the different experiences that different people have with cinema.

Sylar said:
I agree, Snow White was somewhat the Toy Story of its time. The first full length animation that showed the medium was capable of more than people thought. On top of that the animation still holds up today. I tried to re-watch The Wizard of Oz early last year and couldn't sit through it after the characters were introduced. It could be a common opinion to think that the majority of older films are cheesy today, just because the technology and acting style has changed so much, but this film takes it to the extreme.
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You certainly know your stuff, Sylar, and I really admire you consideration of context. You seem to always judge films objectively, and avoid making modern cinema styles the central standard for judging all other films.

I watched the documentary from the Snow White video (it was a video for me) and found it fascinating how "Disney's Greatest Folly became Disney's greatest triumph). Walt even had to mortgage his house to get the funds to finish the film - just as Hitchcock had to do for Psycho - and with that one it is important to consider the limitations of the time. It's true that the Prince has hardly any screen time or character development, but according to the animators, humans are the most difficult things to animate, and male humans are much more difficult than female. They'd planned to have several fighting scenes with the prince, and even have him captured by the Queen in her dungeon, like in Sleeping Beauty, but they simply couldn't. The most complex action they could have him do was climb over the castle will from his horse to see Snow White. Still, I think his song is one of the most beautifully romantic moments in animation history.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs part 1 - YouTube

It's also a little unsettling now to think that the most proactive and constructive thing that Snow White does is clean the Dwarfs' cottage, cook them dinner and make them wash up before eating it - housewife duties. But again, that's the values of the time, and she is a very sweet and likeable character.
 
I found "The Jazz Singer" to be a curious hybrid of silent and sound, which surprised me because I thought it would be all sound. I don't know why they did it that way. I realize that back in the 1920's it never dawned on any of the white writers and producers that putting Jolson in blackface would offend people, but I found it hard to take. I have not seen any of the remakes so I don't know if they are any better or worse.
 
Christian T said:
Always a favourite question of mine to ask in conversations about film.

Mine is The Cabinet of Dr Caligari made in 1920. An incredible German Expressionis horror classic with a very intriguing visual design and an influential, creepy story.

View attachment 4375 View attachment 4376View attachment 4377

It's public domain as well, so watch it on YouTube, I certainly recommend the tinted version.
Click to expand...
Ive seen that too as i went to video production and film school as a teen we had to watch films and discuss. We also saw dr mabuse and metropolis
 
I have Metropolis in my collection and my oldest talkie is "Hell's Angels" by Howard Hughes
 
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