the first time may not be the best time
but it’s always a memorable one welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
film firsts for this list though there
are often several pieces of work that
claim to be the first we’re only looking
at movies that use techniques that
became standard for the industry or were
the first to achieve an impressive goal
and which still have surviving film to
show I’m afraid I cannot agree number 10
the first horror film the haunted castle
depicting a man who encounters the devil
and other spooky creatures this film
might not scare the pants off you but it
is notable for many reasons director
George Melies was an illusionist who
took an interest in the new art of
cinematography reportedly discovering
the stop trick entirely by accident
while seemingly simple and outdated
it was wondrous and bewildering for
viewers at the time to see people and
objects disappear into thin air
metias later made a trip to the moon
which is widely regarded as the first
sci-fi film and a pioneering work of art
that utilized innovative special effects
number 9 the first color 3d film House
of Wax
after his wax museum is set on fire the
proprietor seeks revenge killing those
he finds responsible and using their
corpses as sculptures in his new exhibit
you they are wax but to me their creator
and they live and breathe this film is a
loose remake of 1933’s mystery of the
wax museum but it’s very significant in
its own right you shouldn’t have done
that my dear Vincent Price appears as
the maniacal lead in a horror film for
the first time and in color 3d
additionally House of Wax boasts the
first use of stereophonic sound I’m
rebuilding my exhibition from the ground
up I’m going to give the people what
they want
sensation Jara shock these two advances
show how quickly the film industry was
expanding and making an effort to truly
engage the audience in an immersive film
experience
careful sir keep your head down or I’ll
pat you on the chin look out damn number
8 the first full length narrative
feature film the story of the Kelly Gang
this Australian film depicts the
legendary tale of Ned Kelly murderous
outlaw to police but Robin Hood to the
people you might not be impressed by the
60 minute runtime but this was made in
an era when most films were between 5
and 10 minutes long up until this point
films had to be build with others to
create a show of any length the film was
originally thought to be lost but
several reels were discovered and
restored to the 17-minute film we now
have it includes the iconic scene of
Kelly’s last stand in which the
legendary bush Ranger wore homemade iron
armor number 7 the first kiss on film
the kiss it didn’t take long for
filmmakers to start sexing up their work
Thomas Edison yes that Thomas Edison
commissioned this film which shows a man
and a woman nestling each other sweetly
before sharing a closed mouth Peck those
18 seconds became infamous since kissing
in public could get you prosecuted at
the time the film was labeled shocking
and obscene
with the Roman Catholic Church even
calling for it to be censored naturally
all the uproar inspired a myriad of
copycat kissing films that same year one
of the first pornographic films was
screened in Paris Luca che de la magia
or bedtime for the bride which depicted
a woman
stripping number six the first film to
gross 100 million dollars The Sound of
Music when the law closes a door
somewhere he opens a window
some sources give this honor to 1939 s
Gone with the Wind frankly my dear I
don’t give a damn however the title
actually goes to the 1965 oscar-winning
film that surpassed the record holding
gross Gone with the Wind had earned as
of the next year The Sound of Music with
a Sound of Music
despite initially receiving mixed
reviews and a limited Roadshow
theatrical release the musical drama
following the young Maria as the
governess of the Von Trapp family became
a box-office smash and thanks to an
initial four and a half year theatrical
release as it was re-released more than
once it became the first movie to hit
the 100 million dollar mark silver white
winters that melt into Springs these are
a few of my favorites number five the
first animated cartoon film
phantasmagoria Emil Cole secured his
place in film history with the earliest
known use of hand-drawn animation
phantasmagoria is a short surreal film
with a stick man that encounters an
array of shape-shifting objects the
simple drawings in a
stream-of-consciousness style are
attribute to the incoherent movement a
short-lived artistic movement in France
in the early 1880s hand-drawn animation
would remain a staple of the film
industry until the game changed in 1995
with the release of Toy Story the first
feature-length computer-animated film o
infinity and beyond number four the
first special effects the execution of
Mary Stuart special effects are
inseparable from films and their use
goes back to the beginning of film
itself this film is another 18 second
contribution by Thomas Edison and it’s
just as controversial as his other work
though he uses a stop trick to replace
the actress whose character is to be
executed with a mannequin many audience
members didn’t realize this they were
shocked to witness what they thought was
history’s first snuff film thankfully
special effects have improved with the
use of computers the first feature film
to take advantage of computer technology
through digital image processing was
1973’s Westworld for the gunslingers
Android vision he’s got all the sensory
equipment
it’s a beautiful machine number three
the first color film in Hollywood the
toll of the sea though many films claim
to be the first one in color the toll of
the sea certainly makes the best case
for it starring the iconic Anna May Wong
and her first lead role the film is the
first Hollywood made color feature that
didn’t require any special equipment to
project it the drama itself deals with
the challenges of forbidden love between
an American man and a Chinese woman
though some criticized the portrayal of
Wong’s character as the Madame Butterfly
Asian stereotype it introduced the
difficult subject of interracial
marriages in a highly conservative time
number 2 the first film with sound the
jazz singer wait a minute wait a minute
you wait right nothing yet telling the
story of a young Jewish man who runs
away from home to follow his dream this
film is one of the most significant in
cinema history sunrise a song of two
humans was among the first films to
utilize sound for musical scores and
special effects
however the jazz singer was the first
feature film to use synchronized sound
techniques for both speaking and singing
Marvin up me me maybe time you are see
no talkies would turn the industry on
its head and change the course of cinema
making noise breaking time always
fighting the border as technology
improved new sound techniques were
introduced with Dolby stereo sound being
used for the first time in 1976 –is a
star is born
you can trash your life but you’re not
gonna trash mine before we unveil our
number one pick here are some honorable
mentions
I remember remember all of it well I
ain’t gonna be around to pick you up
when you fall now both of you got to
take care of each other now I’m not
trying to piss you off a nothing like
that but I can’t do this I can’t drive
you around while you’re killing people
and etic it ain’t my job tonight it is
you
number one the first film Roundhay
garden scene you might be hesitant to
call a mere two-second recording a film
but the Roundhay garden scene was truly
an innovation Louie Laplace is known as
the father of cinematography for
inventing a single lens camera to shoot
moving pictures he shot the first motion
picture film using a single lens camera
and paper film it’s called the Roundhay
garden scene earlier attempts at film
such as Edward my bridges 1878 Sally
Gardner at a gallop were more like flip
books
other notable early films like arrival
of a train at La Ciotat by the Lumiere
brothers reportedly surprised audience
members so much that they don’t out of
the way of the oncoming train even back
then films incredible potential was
apparent and possibly led to the father
of cinematography mysterious
disappearance he disappeared without a
trace of his luggage was gone vanished
without a trace
do you agree with our list yeah yeah
what’s your favorite film first and when
my work is done coming home with a
heading for more groundbreaking top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
but it’s always a memorable one welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
film firsts for this list though there
are often several pieces of work that
claim to be the first we’re only looking
at movies that use techniques that
became standard for the industry or were
the first to achieve an impressive goal
and which still have surviving film to
show I’m afraid I cannot agree number 10
the first horror film the haunted castle
depicting a man who encounters the devil
and other spooky creatures this film
might not scare the pants off you but it
is notable for many reasons director
George Melies was an illusionist who
took an interest in the new art of
cinematography reportedly discovering
the stop trick entirely by accident
while seemingly simple and outdated
it was wondrous and bewildering for
viewers at the time to see people and
objects disappear into thin air
metias later made a trip to the moon
which is widely regarded as the first
sci-fi film and a pioneering work of art
that utilized innovative special effects
number 9 the first color 3d film House
of Wax
after his wax museum is set on fire the
proprietor seeks revenge killing those
he finds responsible and using their
corpses as sculptures in his new exhibit
you they are wax but to me their creator
and they live and breathe this film is a
loose remake of 1933’s mystery of the
wax museum but it’s very significant in
its own right you shouldn’t have done
that my dear Vincent Price appears as
the maniacal lead in a horror film for
the first time and in color 3d
additionally House of Wax boasts the
first use of stereophonic sound I’m
rebuilding my exhibition from the ground
up I’m going to give the people what
they want
sensation Jara shock these two advances
show how quickly the film industry was
expanding and making an effort to truly
engage the audience in an immersive film
experience
careful sir keep your head down or I’ll
pat you on the chin look out damn number
8 the first full length narrative
feature film the story of the Kelly Gang
this Australian film depicts the
legendary tale of Ned Kelly murderous
outlaw to police but Robin Hood to the
people you might not be impressed by the
60 minute runtime but this was made in
an era when most films were between 5
and 10 minutes long up until this point
films had to be build with others to
create a show of any length the film was
originally thought to be lost but
several reels were discovered and
restored to the 17-minute film we now
have it includes the iconic scene of
Kelly’s last stand in which the
legendary bush Ranger wore homemade iron
armor number 7 the first kiss on film
the kiss it didn’t take long for
filmmakers to start sexing up their work
Thomas Edison yes that Thomas Edison
commissioned this film which shows a man
and a woman nestling each other sweetly
before sharing a closed mouth Peck those
18 seconds became infamous since kissing
in public could get you prosecuted at
the time the film was labeled shocking
and obscene
with the Roman Catholic Church even
calling for it to be censored naturally
all the uproar inspired a myriad of
copycat kissing films that same year one
of the first pornographic films was
screened in Paris Luca che de la magia
or bedtime for the bride which depicted
a woman
stripping number six the first film to
gross 100 million dollars The Sound of
Music when the law closes a door
somewhere he opens a window
some sources give this honor to 1939 s
Gone with the Wind frankly my dear I
don’t give a damn however the title
actually goes to the 1965 oscar-winning
film that surpassed the record holding
gross Gone with the Wind had earned as
of the next year The Sound of Music with
a Sound of Music
despite initially receiving mixed
reviews and a limited Roadshow
theatrical release the musical drama
following the young Maria as the
governess of the Von Trapp family became
a box-office smash and thanks to an
initial four and a half year theatrical
release as it was re-released more than
once it became the first movie to hit
the 100 million dollar mark silver white
winters that melt into Springs these are
a few of my favorites number five the
first animated cartoon film
phantasmagoria Emil Cole secured his
place in film history with the earliest
known use of hand-drawn animation
phantasmagoria is a short surreal film
with a stick man that encounters an
array of shape-shifting objects the
simple drawings in a
stream-of-consciousness style are
attribute to the incoherent movement a
short-lived artistic movement in France
in the early 1880s hand-drawn animation
would remain a staple of the film
industry until the game changed in 1995
with the release of Toy Story the first
feature-length computer-animated film o
infinity and beyond number four the
first special effects the execution of
Mary Stuart special effects are
inseparable from films and their use
goes back to the beginning of film
itself this film is another 18 second
contribution by Thomas Edison and it’s
just as controversial as his other work
though he uses a stop trick to replace
the actress whose character is to be
executed with a mannequin many audience
members didn’t realize this they were
shocked to witness what they thought was
history’s first snuff film thankfully
special effects have improved with the
use of computers the first feature film
to take advantage of computer technology
through digital image processing was
1973’s Westworld for the gunslingers
Android vision he’s got all the sensory
equipment
it’s a beautiful machine number three
the first color film in Hollywood the
toll of the sea though many films claim
to be the first one in color the toll of
the sea certainly makes the best case
for it starring the iconic Anna May Wong
and her first lead role the film is the
first Hollywood made color feature that
didn’t require any special equipment to
project it the drama itself deals with
the challenges of forbidden love between
an American man and a Chinese woman
though some criticized the portrayal of
Wong’s character as the Madame Butterfly
Asian stereotype it introduced the
difficult subject of interracial
marriages in a highly conservative time
number 2 the first film with sound the
jazz singer wait a minute wait a minute
you wait right nothing yet telling the
story of a young Jewish man who runs
away from home to follow his dream this
film is one of the most significant in
cinema history sunrise a song of two
humans was among the first films to
utilize sound for musical scores and
special effects
however the jazz singer was the first
feature film to use synchronized sound
techniques for both speaking and singing
Marvin up me me maybe time you are see
no talkies would turn the industry on
its head and change the course of cinema
making noise breaking time always
fighting the border as technology
improved new sound techniques were
introduced with Dolby stereo sound being
used for the first time in 1976 –is a
star is born
you can trash your life but you’re not
gonna trash mine before we unveil our
number one pick here are some honorable
mentions
I remember remember all of it well I
ain’t gonna be around to pick you up
when you fall now both of you got to
take care of each other now I’m not
trying to piss you off a nothing like
that but I can’t do this I can’t drive
you around while you’re killing people
and etic it ain’t my job tonight it is
you
number one the first film Roundhay
garden scene you might be hesitant to
call a mere two-second recording a film
but the Roundhay garden scene was truly
an innovation Louie Laplace is known as
the father of cinematography for
inventing a single lens camera to shoot
moving pictures he shot the first motion
picture film using a single lens camera
and paper film it’s called the Roundhay
garden scene earlier attempts at film
such as Edward my bridges 1878 Sally
Gardner at a gallop were more like flip
books
other notable early films like arrival
of a train at La Ciotat by the Lumiere
brothers reportedly surprised audience
members so much that they don’t out of
the way of the oncoming train even back
then films incredible potential was
apparent and possibly led to the father
of cinematography mysterious
disappearance he disappeared without a
trace of his luggage was gone vanished
without a trace
do you agree with our list yeah yeah
what’s your favorite film first and when
my work is done coming home with a
heading for more groundbreaking top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
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