Author Archive: Retro

A pretty story with a moral for little wicked boys. A bad boy teases a companion who is blowing bubbles and takes his pipe away. He blows a bubble and in it he sees a vision of his mother, lying sick in bed imploring him to be good if he would save her from dying of a broken heart. Twice the vision appears, and the boy, strongly moved, rushes home and throwing himself at his mother’s feet promises to be good forever after, and not to cause her any grief.

The ghost of a selfish, inconsiderate woman must make up for her past transgressions by making sure that her descendant marries the man who is right for her.

Romantic adventure film in which Betty, who dreams about pirates, and her father, a gullible professor, are tricked by a bunch of real pirates. They are rescued by a young man who has a crush on Betty. The young man, named Dick, becomes acquainted with Betty, whose father Timothy Bakewell is looking for a treasure island, together with Captain Crook and his pirates. The father is beaten up by the robbers, and is left behind on the island. Dick decides to go after Tobias Crook. Meanwhile, the pirates arrive at the home of Betty, where she is harassed. But her rescue is close at hand, and Dick embraces her in his arms.

English titles. Includes: THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL & THE CHARLESTON.

A magician conjures up a mermaid while fishing.

A down-at-heal ex-convict undergoes an epiphany as he experiences the love of a good woman for the first time.

Georges Melies’ best-known film, A Trip to the Moon, is inspired by Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon” and H.G. Wells’ “First Men on the Moon”. In 1908, Segundo de Chomon made An Excursion to the Moon, an imitation of Melies’ work, which is preserved with the original Pathe Freres stencil color.

Big Boy’s father takes his son and new dog to his firehouse. His chief, however, has just posted a notice that children and pets are forbidden, so this decent but episodic Jack White comedy turns into a series of narrow escapes from authority and a flea circus.

A young woman’s plan to trick an old rich Scot out of his money backfires.