Two works from the father of narrative cinema. In "Broken Blossoms" (1919); a Chinaman arrives in London to teach the locals the ideals of Buddhism but finds them most unreceptive and, instead, opens a shop which becomes the refuge for a xenophobic boxer's abused daughter. Lillian Gish is brilliant and Griffith poetic. "Abraham Lincoln", (1930), was Griffith's first talkie and is a straightforward biopic from childhood to his premature assassination. find out more...

Including the films: Sortie d'usine (1895), Repas de bebe (1895), Demolition d'un mur (1896), Le Jardinier et le petit espiegle (1895), Arrivee des Congessistes a Neuville-sur-saone (1895), Arrivee d'un train en gare a la ciotat(1895), Partie d'ecarte (1895), Barque sortant du port(1895), Leaving Jerusalem By Railway(1896), Bataillede Boules de Neige (1896), Pompiers a Lyon (1896), Niagara and Spanish Bullfight (1897) all by Auguste and Louis Lumiere. Voyage a travers l'impossible (Melies, 1904 find out more...

A disturbing Danish film, reanacting witchcraft trials from the 15th and 16th on till the early 20th Century. Mixing scenes of reanactment, animation and illustrated slideshows to depict events of alleged real-life events and possessions, we are shown images of extreme cruelty which smack of the experimental edges of medical research. This must have been tantamount to the work of the devil when it first came out. Sick-minds they had back in 1922! The DVD has a choice of soundtracks, the best of find out more...

A truly excellent documentary regarding the groundbreaking work of Georges Melies who (along with the Lumiere Brothers) provided early cinema with some of its most memorable images. Hollywood contempories like Spielberg and that arse George Lucas are on hand to throw in their two cents, but the film is really about the obsessive nature of a director who played the parts of writer, special effects creator, hand-tinter, backdrop artist, costumier and probably caterer too. A true visionary. The DVD find out more...

Seminal vampire film, the first to be based upon the Bram Stoker tale. An estate agent's clerk from Bremen embarks on a journey to Orlock's castle, where a client of his resides. On arrival, the full horror of the inhabitants confront him. Wonderful imagery and direction. Imitated but never equalled. find out more...

A disturbingly racist portrayal of the American Civil War, stunningly made, but unforgivably sympathetic to the KKK. This is an historic landmark of cinema, remarkable for its technical innovations if not its content. find out more...

Re-issued gem from the little master. "The Gold Rush" is acclaimed as one of his funniest by many critics, and was re-edited by Chaplin himself to incorporate sound, 17 years after it's original 1925 release. find out more...

John Ford's 50th and most celebrated silent film demonstrates the ideals of expansion, enterprise and achievement, but condones racism and exploitation. The scale of this film surpassed all of the other silent westerns and put Ford in the history books. Double-dealing, vengeance and romance are all covered with a poetic sense of history as we see the country united by a trans-continental railroad, realized by a great man and brought about through the sweat of the working man. A classic, black an find out more...