Gaston Velle

As soon as his back is turned, Columbine is making out with Harlequin. So when he catches them at it, Gaston Séverin as Pierrot strikes her as Harlequin flees. Of course, he's terribly sorry when he thinks she's dead, and drinks.

A man hides his valuables under his mattress before going to sleep, blissfully unaware of the two burglars on his roof.

A Japanese-set magic show. There is a lot of visual trickery on display, ending with an amazing effect using reverse footage and superimposing/projecting images on top of one another.

Fantastic Flowers is a compilation of short silent films produced between 1906 and 1920, displaying amazing colours that were applied to each frame using the Pathécolor process, or other similar stencilling techniques. Bonsoir – La Fée aux fleurs (1906) / [Bloemenvelden Haarlem] (1909) / Les Chrysanthèmes (1907) / Le Chrysanthème, roi de l’automne (1914) / [Les Tulipes] (1907) / Les Fleurs dans les jardins (1914) / L’Après-midi d’une japonaise (1920) / The Beauty Thief ([1920]) / La Fée printemps (1906) / [Het schoonste uit de natuur] (1912?) / La Culture du dahlia (1911) / [Hollandse Tulpen en Klompen] (1920?) / Fabrication des fleurs artificielles (1911) / [Bonsoir tableau] (1906)

A charming example of the Pathe stencil system of colour films, also using superimposition.

A fairly venturesome piece of filmmaking for the era: Based on the Jules Verne story, the film utilizes a dozen cuts, irised lenses, panning shots and vivid tints to weave an intrepid and exciting story.

This has more of a clear narrative than most of the films in the set although it’s still quite odd and random compared to today’s films. There are some effectively surreal and creepy sequences in this imaginative short, such as the devil’s face appearing in an egg and spewing coins as well as the finale where our protagonist is sent to an egg-filled hell.

An entomologist guilty of trying to capture rare insects is condemned to be pinned on a giant cork.