A list of science fiction films released before the 1920s. These films include core elements of science fiction and are widely available with reviews by reputable
critics or film historians.
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Country |
Subgenre/Notes
|
| 1895
|
| La Charcuterie mécanique |
Lumière Brothers |
No casts included |
France |
Short film[1]
|
| 1897
|
| Gugusse et l'Automate |
Georges Méliès |
Georges Méliès |
France |
Short film,[2] lost
|
| The X-Rays |
George Albert Smith |
|
United Kingdom |
Short film
|
|
| 1898
|
| Les rayons Röntgen |
Georges Méliès |
|
France |
lost film
|
| The Astronomer's Dream |
Georges Méliès |
|
France |
|
| 1902
|
| A Trip to the Moon |
Georges Méliès |
Georges Méliès |
France |
Short film
|
| 1904
|
The Impossible Voyage Le Voyage à travers l'impossible |
Georges Méliès |
Georges Méliès, Fernande Albany, Jehanne d'Alcy |
France |
Short film
|
| 1907
|
Under the Seas AKA Deux Cents Milles sous les mers ou le Cauchemar du pêcheur AKA 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
Georges Méliès |
Georges Méliès |
France |
Short film
|
| The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and the Moon |
Georges Méliès |
Georges Méliès |
France |
|
| 1908
|
| El hotel eléctrico |
Segundo de Chomón |
Segundo de Chomón |
Spain |
Short film[3][4]
|
| 1909
|
| Airship Destroyer |
Walter R. Booth |
|
United Kingdom |
Short film[5]
|
| Viaje al planeta Júpiter |
Segundo de Chomón |
Segundo de Chomón |
Spain |
Short film[3][4]
|
| 1910
|
| Frankenstein |
J. Searle Dawley |
Augustus Phillips, Charles Stanton Ogle, Mary Fuller |
United States |
Short film
|
| Viaje al centro de la tierra |
Segundo de Chomón |
Segundo de Chomón |
Spain |
Short film[3][4]
|
| 1911
|
| The Aerial Anarchists |
Walter R. Booth |
|
United Kingdom |
Short film, lost film
|
| Little Moritz enlève Rosalie |
Henri Gambard |
|
France |
Short film
|
| 1912
|
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
Lucius J. Henderson |
James Cruze, Florence La Badie |
United States |
Short film |
|
| The Conquest of the Pole |
George Melies |
George Melies |
France |
Short film
|
| 1913
|
| Amerika – Europa im Luftschiff |
Alfred Lind |
|
Germany |
|
| Le avventure straordinarissime di Saturnino Farandola |
Marcel Fabre |
|
Italy |
|
| A Message from Mars |
J. Wallett Waller |
|
United Kingdom |
|
| 1915
|
| Der Kraftmeier |
Ernst Lubitsch |
Ernst Lubitsch |
Germany |
|
| Der Tunnel a.k.a The Tunnel |
William Wauer |
Friedrich Kayssler, Fritzi Massary, Hermann Vallentin, Felix Basch |
Germany |
|
| William Voss |
Rudolf Meinert |
|
Germany |
|
| 1916
|
| 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
Stuart Paton |
Leviticus Jones, Allen Holubar |
United States |
|
| Homunculus |
Otto Rippert |
Olaf Fønss, Friedrich Kuehne |
Germany |
Serial film[6]
|
| Tales of Hoffmann |
Richard Oswald |
Erich Kaiser-Titz, Werner Krauss |
Germany |
|
| Titanenkampf |
Joseph Delmont |
Erich Kaiser-Titz |
Germany |
|
| Verdens Undergang |
August Blom |
Alf Blütecher, Olaf Fønss, Johanne Fritz-Petersen |
Denmark |
[7]
|
| 1917
|
| Himmelskibet |
Holger-Madsen |
Ole Olsen |
Denmark |
|
| 1918
|
| Alraune |
Michael Curtiz, Edmund Fritz |
Géza Erdélyi, Gyula Gál |
Hungary |
|
| Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne |
Eugen Illés, Joseph Klein |
Max Auzinger, Joseph Klein |
Germany |
|
| The Master Mystery |
Burton King |
Harry Houdini, Ruth Stonehouse, William Pike, Floyd Buckley |
United States |
Serial film[8][9]
|
| The Star Prince
|
Madeline Brandeis
|
Zoe Rae, Dorphia Brown
|
United States
|
A Trip to Mars AKA Himmelskibet |
Holger-Madsen |
Gunnar Tolnæs, Zanny Petersen, Nicolai Neiiendam |
Denmark |
|
|
| 1919
|
| Die Arche |
Richard Oswald |
Leo Connard, Eva Speyer |
Germany |
|
| The First Men in the Moon |
Bruce Gordon, J.L.V. Leigh |
Bruce Gordon, Heather Thatcher, Lionel d'Aragon |
United Kingdom |
lost film
|
| The Mistress of the World |
Joe May |
Mia May, Michael Bohnen, Hans Mierendorff |
Germany |
|
See also
References
- ^ Hardy, Phil (1994). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction. Overlook Press. p. 19. ISBN 0-87951-626-7.
- ^ Benson, Michael (2002). Fighting Robots: A Guide to Radio-controlled Combatants. Citadel Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-8065-2372-7.
- ^ a b c Jiménez, Jesús (18 February 2012). "La ciencia ficción, un género tan raro en el cine español como estimulante". rtve (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ a b c Merelo, Alfonso (14 December 2004). "Ecine de ciencia ficción en españa: Una aproximación". Ciencia-ficcion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ Paris, Michael (1995). From the Wright brothers to Top gun: aviation, nationalism, and popular cinema. Manchester University Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-7190-4074-4.
- ^ Prince, Stephen (2004). The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8135-3363-5.
- ^ Mitry, Jean (1965). Filmographie Universelle (in French). Vol. 5. Paris, France: Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. p. 155.
- ^ Wollstein, Hans J. (2009). "The Master Mystery (1918)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-06-29. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
- ^ Telotte, J. P. (1999). A Distant Technology: Science Fiction Film and the Machine Age. Wesleyan University Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-8195-6346-3.
External links