The Brass Bottle

Alone in her apartment during the pandemic, Natalie turns to her favorite classic movies to keep her company. When her life in color gradually begins to turn to black-and-white, she takes a magical tour through film history, recreating a dazzling array of classic movie scenes.

A nervous and unsettling young boy takes a mysterious old suitcase across London... to a twisted and surreal conclusion.

The mysterious Count Orlok summons a happily married real estate agent to his castle, located up in the Transylvanian mountains, to finalise a terrifying deal.

This mostly lost film is often confused with director Paul Wegener third and readily available interpretation of the legend; Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920). In this version of the golem legend, the golem, a clay statue brought to life by Rabbi Loew in 16th century Prague to save the Jews from the ongoing brutal persecution by the city's rulers, is found in the rubble of an old synagogue in the 20th century. Brought to life by an antique dealer, the golem is used as a menial servant. Eventually falling in love with the dealer's wife, it goes on a murderous rampage when its love for her goes unanswered.

This film begins with the invocation of 'almighty god' at a river where several people are gathered. The child god Krishna rises out of the water astride the demon snake Kaliya. Then we see Yashoda as she rocks the sleeping Krishna's crib and imagines the god as Gopala. The next scene shows Kamsa fantasizing about Krishna threateningly duplicated many times around him. Kamsa then imagines himself dead as his severed head rises up and descends again. People of all castes pay obeisance to the deity with the title-card: 'may this humble offering be accepted by the Lord'.

A two-reel adaptation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno from the Divine Comedy by Helios Film. It is less well-known than the five-reel feature produced the same year by Milano Films, but it was released earlier in 1911.

Abraham Cadabra, an unconfident young man buys a magic book and top hat in the hope of using magic to impress the girl of his dreams, Penelope Predicament. However, when he meets her for a date, he discovers that his rival, Jock Strong has beaten him to it. Abraham tries to use magic to win Penelope over, but magic may not be the solution.

One of the earliest cinematic adaptation of Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. When seeking for food alone, Tang Xuanzang was kept prisoner by seven spider monsters who took the form of seven beautiful women. The Monkey King and the other two of Xuanzang's disciples managed to rescue him with the help of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva/Guanyin. They renounced the desire for lust and continued the quest for Buddhist Scriptures.

God and Satan wager on the soul of a learned and prayerful alchemist as part of their eternal war over Earth.

A man with an umbrella emerges from his grave to be momentarily reunited with his lost loved one.

Untitled Silent Horror Fantasy Short

"Old Peter Grimm makes his ward Katie promise to marry his nephew Frederik [ sic ] and then dies. Frederik proves to be a scapegrace and Peter's spirit returns to right matters and finally succeeds in doing so by communicating with Jimmie who is in a delirium." ( Moving Picture World, 20 Nov 1926, p164.) Peter thus thwarts selfishness and greed and rewards virtue.

The film presents a drawing room meeting of enthusiastic puzzle workers. One gentleman has a new way of solving his puzzle. He puts a handkerchief over the game and immediately the picture is made. Under the handkerchief, we see how, piece by piece, it is put into one finished picture. His success makes him an object of envy, however, and the gentleman meets with considerable trouble before the party is over. (Moving Picture World)

Simple line drawings undergoing the usual transformations so beloved of French filmmaker Emile Cohl.

Short comedy set in a haunted hotel. Filmed using "Kinekature" which provides lens distortion.

Two nosy neighbors who drill a hole through their wall to spy on the canoodling couple next door get more than they bargained for when the man discovers their plan and casts a magic spell.

The film is a delightful tale of a spoiled wedding between child's toys which shows Starewicz's typical style of making amusing films appropriate for children without much sentimentality. As in many of his other films, his daughter Nina plays the role of the child.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow are now in the Emerald City. They have become friendly with the Wizard, and together with the woodman, the cowardly lion, and several new creations equally delightful, they journey through Oz -- the earthquake -- and into the glass city. The Scarecrow is elated to think he is going to get his brains at last and be like other men are; the Tin-Woodman is bent upon getting a heart, and the cowardly lion pleads with the great Oz for courage. All these are granted by his Highness. Dorothy picks the princess. -- The Dangerous Mangaboos. -- Into the black pit, and out again. We then see Jim, the cab horse, and myriads of pleasant surprises that hold and fascinate.

This two-strip Technicolor record of the 1936 freshman pageant, acted out entirely by women, begins with Dorothy escorting the Wizard to the throne, assisted by Ojo, whereupon he looks in the Magic Picture on the University of Michigan, and the typed students complaining about school. The Wizard decides to bring them all to Oz, transforming them into Oz celebrities: Tippetarius, the Scarecrow, Nick Chopper, Tik-Tok, Old Mombi, Jinjur, Scraps, The Shaggy Man, Betsy Bobbin, and Jack Pumpkinhead. After a party and registration, it's on to class with Professor Wogglebug. When Tip and Jack carry him out of the classroom, he subjects them to a blue book exam, after which they wish to return to the U of M. The equivalent characters are not played by the same people, so there transformation, their "true self" appears behind them in the early scenes.

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.