James Williamson Filmes

The titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese...

A boy helps a convict to escape after meeting him at his mother's graveyard. The convict gets rich in Australia and when he returns is arrested again...

A man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera...

George Smith's picture of the crowds out for a stroll on what I imagine is Brighton Pier.

The adventures of an inattentive man who can't look away from his book.

A collection of early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Films include: Brighton Seagoing Electric Car (1897), The Inexhaustible Cab...

A clown cuts off a customer's head and replaces it.

Firefighters ring for help, and here comes the ladder cart; they hitch a horse to it. A second horse-drawn truck joins the first, and they head down...

Two washerwomen have an altercation with a chimney sweep

As a man removes his clothes to bathe, more reappear on him.

A lad from a butcher shop is carrying a tray laden with a roast or a leg of lamb. A hobo grabs it and runs. The boy gives chase, joined by dogs, as...

Boys blow peas at the cobbler, who throws a boot and hits a woman.

Directed by one of the pioneers of the cinematic industry, James Williamson, The History of a Butterfly - A Romance of Insect Life is an intriguing...

An aged villager, reminded of his boyhood days in the church choir by the sound of the bells, totters to the church door and begs the vicar to allow...

Short film about a man embarking on and returing from war. A print survives at the BFI.

A village fire brigade puts out a fire.

A conjurer vanishes animals then vanishes himself.

A young man's telephone call to his sweetheart is intercepted by her father, who beats him with his umbrella.

Innovative early 'trick' film showing the popular 'flying the foam' stunt performed on - or rather off - Brighton's West Pier.

A short melodrama based on Hans Christian Andersen's harrowing tale. A poor little girl tries to sell matchsticks in the freezing December cold. She...