SCFZ poll: George Albert Smith

[flip]

Polling the films of George Albert Smith

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half* of the GA Smith films you've seen, up to a maximum of 8. So if you've seen 6 films, you can vote for 3, and if you've seen 20, you can vote for up to 8.

* If you've seen an odd number, you can round up when deciding the length of your ballot -- e.g if you've seen 7, you can vote for 4, and if you've seen 15, you can vote for the maximum of 8.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

[flip]

Santa Claus
Two Clowns
The Miller and the Sweep
Grandma's Reading Glass
The X-Ray Fiend
The House That Jack Built
Mary Jane's Mishap

seen fourteen

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

1. The X-Ray Fiend
2. Two Clowns
3. The Sick Kitten
4. Let Me Dream Again

[sally]

yay the hypnotist secretary to the society for psychical research? aside from the colossal event-ishness of louis le prince, GAS is my fave early filmmaker (so british, all that trickery mainly for sleaze) more for his wild life than the films...

also a thieving magpie right from the start! filching kisses in purloined works!

Smith made only the studio shot of the train carriage in The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), but when he inserted it into Hepworth's phantom ride View From an Engine Front - Train Leaving Tunnel he created an edited film which demonstrated a new sense of continuity and simultaneity across three shots.

visit to pompeii
the kiss in the tunnel
the miller and the sweep
the x-ray fiend
santa claus
grand display of brock's fireworks at the crystal palace

[sally]

also highly recommend this site

https://www.victorian-cinema.net/

This is a guide to over 300 leading figures in Victorian cinema, defined as filmmaking in its broadest sense from the first glimmerings in the 1870s to the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901.

[flip]

good caturday director (just watched four and two had kittens)

[greennui]

23
.
Two Clowns
A Visit to the Seaside
Mary Jane’s Mishap
As Seen Through a Telescope
Grand Display of Brock’s Fireworks at the Crystal Palace
The Inexhaustible Cab
The X-Ray Fiend
Let Me Dream Again

[greennui]

also highly recommend this site

https://www.victorian-cinema.net/

This is a guide to over 300 leading figures in Victorian cinema, defined as filmmaking in its broadest sense from the first glimmerings in the 1870s to the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901.

Thanxx.

GAS must be one of the most long lived of all the film pioneers. Died in 1959. Not sure if anyone can beat Alice Guy though, 1873-1968, she was present at Lumiere bros first screening and could hypothetically have watched 2001 at the cinema before her death.

[deepbluefunk]

seen 28

1. The Kiss in the Tunnel
2. Two Clowns
3. The Sick Kitten
4. Mary Jane's Mishap
5. Brock's Fireworks
6. A Visit to the Seaside
7. Grandma's Reading Glasses
8. Santa Claus

[Lencho of the Apes]

Santa Claus
The X Ray Fiend
The Kiss In The Tunnel
Old Man Drinking A Glass Of Beer

[Holdrüholoheuho]

pls no deadline on friday.
i will watch/rewatch during the weekend and make a list.

[flip]

pls no deadline on friday.
i will watch/rewatch during the weekend and make a list.

i was going to tally this around monday or tuesday (i'll tally the arthur penn tomorrow, that started before this one) unless people need more time, which is always fine

[---]

seen a bunch, but

UNORDERED LIST

the kiss in the tunnel
old man drinking a glass of beer
the miller and the sweep
grand display of brock's fireworks at the crystal palace

[Holdrüholoheuho]

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
THE X-RAY FIEND
AS SEEN THROUGH A TELESCOPE
THE MILLER AND THE SWEEP
GRAND DISPLAY OF BROCK’S FIREWORKS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE
MARY JANE'S MISHAP
TARTANS OF SCOTTISH CLANS
WOMAN DRAPED IN PATTERNED HANDKERCHIEFS

A KISS IN THE TUNNEL
TWO CLOWNS
THE SICK KITTEN
GRANDMA'S READING GLASS
SPIDERS ON A WEB
SANTA CLAUS
LET ME DREAM AGAIN
COMIC FACE / OLD MAN DRINKING A GLASS OF BEER
THE OLD MAID'S VALENTINE
THE DEATH OF POOR JOE

-----------------------------------------------------

watchlist:
A VISIT TO THE SEASIDE (out of reach -- can i see it anywhere???)
VISIT TO POMPEII (out of reach -- BFI -- geoblocked)

[Monsieur Arkadin]

I'm confused about the Haunted Castle... that's only Melies right? He did a version that has been lost to history. I've seen a version with Melies acting in it, but I'm getting conflicting reports as to who (co?)directed that one.

Anyway, ,my list is:

Grand Display of Brock's Fireworks At The Crystal Palace
The X-Ray Fiend
Tartans of Scottish Clans
The House That Jack Built

[flip]

I'm confused about the Haunted Castle... that's only Melies right?

i'm no expert, but that was my understanding -- i gather remaking successful films was a common practice then, and somewhere i saw someone saying that ga smith had remade the melies, but that the smith version was lost, maybe we read the same thing.

[flip]

for seasonal reasons, i was hoping santa claus would win, but a few other films fared slightly better (edit: late ballots elevated it to 2nd). i couldn't find three of the titles on imdb (which i was using to find the years for each film -- the films were woman draped in pattern handkerchiefs, old man drinking a glass of beer, and visit to pompeii), but they were on letterboxd. so it's possible some of those go by two different names, and i might have an error in the tally, where i listed the same film twice under different titles and divided the votes between them. or it might be that the films just aren't on imdb at all. imdb lists 317 different smith titles so it wasn't easy to figure out what was going on. if anyone notices any duplicates please let me know!

results
1. The X-Ray Fiend (1897) — 18.3 pts
2. Santa Claus (1898) — 18.1 pts
3. Two Clowns (1906) — 16 pts
4. The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899) — 14 pts
5. The Miller and the Sweep (1897) — 11.3 pts
6. Grand Display of Brock’s Fireworks at the Crystal Palace (1904) — 10.5 pts
7. Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903) — 9.8 pts
8. As Seen Through a Telescope (1900) — 8 pts
9. The House That Jack Built (1900) — 6.5 pts
10. Visit to Pompeii (1901) — 5 pts
10. The Sick Kitten (1903) — 5 pts
12. A Visit to the Seaside (1910) — 4.5 pts
13. Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer (1898) — 4 pts
14. Grandma’s Reading Glass (1900) — 4.3 pts
15. Tartans of Scottish Clans (1906) — 2.8 pts
16. Let Me Dream Again (1900) — 1.1 pts
17. The Inexhaustible Cab (1899) — 0.5 pts
18. Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs (1908) — 0.1 pts

[---]

ahhh crud, i missed Santa Claus cos it was G.A. Smith in me log!! may i add it to my (unordered) list?

[flip]

ahhh crud, i missed Santa Claus cos it was G.A. Smith in me log!! may i add it to my (unordered) list?

sure! i already edited the list accordingly, also adds 0.5 pts to your other votes, but the list barely changed, santa claus moved up one spot

[Holdrüholoheuho]

OLD MAN DRINKING A GLASS OF BEER (viz "Also known as") is called COMIC FACE on imdb... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213570/
and VISIT TO POMPEII is uncredited on imdb... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2576496/

[...]

If it's not too late:

Santa Claus (Which would have been my top choice unprompted, I really think it's great)
Mary Jane's Mishap
As Seen Through a Telescope
Grandma's Reading Glass
The X-Ray Fiend
Tartans of the Scottish Clans
The Miller and the Sweep

[flip]

thx for the research, neon! sounds like i didn't split a film in two in those cases at least

and not too late, results have been updated

[flip]

posted to letterbox

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-306/