Twenty-two early silent shorts, the majority of which are from the Edison Company's pioneering director, Edwin S. Porter. Emphasis is on pre-production planning, plot structures and knowledge of photography and camera. Shorts include "Life Of An American Fireman" (1903), "The Twentieth Century Tramp" (1902), "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1903), "The Gay Shoe Clerk" (1903), more. 96 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

The film industry's earliest experiments with cinema comedy are depicted in these 15 shorts from the American Mutoscope and Biograph studios. Features examples of early chase scenes, special effects and an interesting look at the rudimentary stage of the suspense genre. Shorts include "A Search For Evidence" (1903), "Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son" (1905), "The Suburbanite" (1904), and more. 101 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Ten silent shorts exemplifying the industry's growth away from its roots in the theatre, the ambitiousness of the producers at American Mutoscope and Biograph studios, and the dawn of documentaries. Shorts include "A Kentucky Feud" (1905), "The Tunnel Workers" (1906), "Her First Adventure" (1908), "At The French Ball" (1908), more. 94 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

The earliest remnants of genius D.W. Griffith's body of work are available here in these 11 silents, providing insights into filmdom's first major producer-director and his pioneering techniques. Shorts include "Balked At The Altar" (1908), "Fools Of Fate" (1909), "The Cord Of Life" (1909), "An Awful Moment" (1908), more. 102 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

D.W. Griffith's 1911 version of "Enoch Arden," promoted as the first Biograph two-reeler, is featured along with the director's "His Trust" and "His Trust Fulfilled," "The Girl And Her Trust," and "A Temporary Truce," plus four films from the prolific Siegmund Lubin studio in Philadelphia. 100 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.