Monday, September 17, 2012


Man Walking Around Corner (1888)-***
Director: Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince
Stars: None
The last remaining production of Le Prince's 16-lens camera is a frame sequence of a man walking around a corner. It is believed to have been shot with the 16-lens type but this is unsure as it appears as if it has been made with a single glass plate not an Eastman American film. A very good, solid, extremely well-done movie and a must-see! Some critics and purists consider this to be the very first movie ever made, while others consider “Roundhay Garden Scene” (1888) the very first movie. Regardless, they are both well-done and need to be seen! Don’t miss this one!
Man Walking Around the Corner

Card Party (1897)-***
Director: Leopoldo Fregoli
Stars: Leopoldo Fregoli.
This 51 second short is just that, short. It’s about some people playing cards at a card party. Not hard to figure out the plot in this mindless, but good, solid movie.  This movie, believed to have been lost, was found in a French cheese store in the mid-1980’s.  Film Still

Accordion Player (1888)-***
Director: Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince
Stars: Adolphe Le Prince.
All this movie is is that of a man playing the accordion. The last remaining film of Le Prince's single-lens camera LPCCP Type-1 MkII. It was recorded on the steps of the house of Joseph Whitley, Adolphe's grandfather. A young man (Adolphe Le Prince reprising his much applauded role from “Roundhay Garden Scene”) struts along the steps of his grandfather’s house playing a diatonic button accordion in a demonstration of the director’s eye for interconnection between movement and background.  The pioneer filmmaker in the concluding throws of his brief but glittering film career churns out a final film lacking in the social commentary of his early work, which has yet to be restored by the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and as such is only of academic interest.A very good, solid, extremely well-done movie and a must-see! Louis Le Prince supplied the Cinematography.