Cecil M. Hepworth

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

'Devon. Farming brothers give home to orphan shepherdess evicted for suspected immorality.' (British Film Catalogue)

HELEN OF FOUR GATES was made in Hebden Bridge in 1920 by silent film pioneer Cecil M. Hepworth, based on a popular novel of the same name. Reportedly highly successful when it first opened, the film would later fall into obscurity, with all copies believed to be destroyed. In 2007, a print was discovered in a vault in Canada.

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Cut-out animated parody of Hamlet by pioneering British animator Anson Dyer.

A dog leads its master to his kidnapped baby.

Young heiress Margaret Yeoland is found unconscious on the Devonshire moors by a disillusioned author, Denis Marlowe. She tells him she has run away from her family, but is reluctant to reveal the full story. Intent on concealing her identity from her pursuers, Denis coerces her into marrying him. But when the body of Margaret's missing father is discovered, it leads Denis to suspect his wife of murder.

A scientist dreams of prehistoric monsters. He awakes in a cavern. A dinosaur chases him, even though he tries to shoot it with his revolver. The chase continues onto the surface. The professor meets a group of prehistoric women, who flee when other monsters appear. The professor's wife finds him sleeping in the laboratory, surrounded by fossils, and wakes him with water from a siphon. This short film is only viewable at the BFI, and its generally believed to be the first film depiction of dinosaurs, here accomplished through the use of simple pantomime costumes.

A working knowledge of Morse code and the foresight to pick a train driver for a sweetheart come in handy in this ‘race to the rescue’ thriller. When the wealthy Mr Harvey has to go away on a train journey, a couple of sharp-eyed crooks take the opportunity to burgle his home. Only the live-in maid stands between them and Harvey’s safe. Can our plucky heroine save the day?

A collection of early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Films include: Brighton Seagoing Electric Car (1897), The Inexhaustible Cab (1899), From Dalmeny to Dunfermline, Scotland via the Firth of Forth Bridge (series) (1899), Review of Lord George Sanger's Circus by the Queen (series) (1899), Sanger Circus Passing Through Inverness (1900), The “Poly” Paper Chase (1900), The Wintry Alps (series) (1903), An Affair of Honor (1904), Perzina's Troupe of Educated Monkeys (1904), Elephants Bathing in Ceylon River (1904), [Drill of the Reedham Orphans] (c.1904–1912), Venice and the Grand Canal (1901?/1904?), Edge's Motor Boat. The Napier Minor (1904), Fixing the Swing (1904), Eccentric Burglary (1905), Her Morning Dip (1906), Automobile Fête Before King Alfonso and Princess Ena (1906), The Royal Spanish Wedding (series) (1906), Lace Making (1908), The Robber's Ruse, or Foiled by Fido (1909).

First film of Burnham Beeches, the famous beauty spot and ultimate film location.

A man preparing for a trip encounters a series of mysterious problems.

A girl wins her rival's fiancé with a fake marriage announcement.

A crofter's daughter has a child by an outlaw and is condemned to death when it is stolen by a midwife's mad daughter.

'Lady introduces wounded cobbler to Minister of Pensions, who makes him gift from King's Fund.' (British Film Catalogue)

As the camera looks down an open road, a horse and carriage approaches, and passes by to one side of the field of view. Soon afterwards, an automobile comes up the road, straight towards the camera. As it gets nearer, the occupants start to wave frantically, but can a collision be avoided?

A boy breaks his sister's doll and it mends, grows, tears him up and eats him.

A boy uses a professor's liquid to make objects transparent.

A jealous girl breaks up a friend's engagement with a fake wedding announcement.

A man fakes an engagement to a typist to please his rich aunt.

Nothing to do with potties... Baby gets a good wash. In this charming Hepworth actuality film, a crisply uniformed, no-nonsense nurse bounces a baby girl on her lap before submerging the unsuspecting infant into a tub of soapy water. The baby is surprisingly content to be so vigorously sponged and rinsed, but somewhat less happy when extracted from the suds and deposited onto a set of unwelcoming metal weighing scales. Once back on a familiar lap, however, the baby delights in being dried, powdered and expertly pampered. (Catherine McGahan)

A professor takes daughter's suitor's camera by mistake.

British propaganda piece warning against buying German goods after the war, summer 1918.