The Barber of Siberia
Douglas is a foreign entrepreneur, who ventures to Russia in 1885 with dreams of selling a new, experimental steam-driven timber harvester in the wilds of Siberia. Jane is his assistant. On her travels, she meets two men who would change her life forever: a handsome young cadet Andrej Tolstoy with whom she shares a fondness for opera, and the powerful General Radlov who is entranced by her beauty and wants to marry her.
Alpine Sports
1909, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Schwyz Castle
1903, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Reichenbach Falls
The peculiarity of this waterfall, with its narrow funnel-shaped opening, from which, on to the jagged rocks the torrent dashes, is here portrayed in all its pristine grandeur and beauty.
Constantinople
1904, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Musical Chairs
1903, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith
The Settlers
Chile, early 20th century. José Menéndez, a wealthy landowner, hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia.
Switzerland Series
Distributed under the title of ‘Switzerland’ or ‘Playground of Europe’, the film consists of a collection of scenes filmed in the Alps by Frank Ormiston-Smith between 1903 and 1905. The scenes belong to concrete moments in different ascents and treks in the Alps and are presented together without the intention to narrate a concrete ascent. These are some of the scenes: Snow avalanche on the Shreckhorn, Difficult ascent of a Rock Peak, A close call - Dangerous climbing, Descent of steep snow drift, Crossing a dangerous snow bridge, Fusillade of rocks on the Alps, Descending a steep rock-faced mountain side, Capt. Spelterini's balloon trip across the Jungfrau, Surmounting the summit of the Finsteraar-joch.
Cervino 1901
On September 28th, 1903, the Urban Mountaineering Expedition, headed by Frank Ormiston-Smith, left Zermatt to attempt the conquest of the Matterhorn. On the 29th, the conquest was completed by the filming of the panorama from the actual summit of the mountain. The film consists of 20 scenes and illustrates the whole ascent from Zermatt through the Hornli Ridge. A copy of the film was found in Zermatt in 1953 and was was erroneously attributed to Frederick Burlingham and dated 1901. Since then, the film has been widely publicized as the first mountain film under the title of 'Cervin 1901', but this is incorrect. Ormiston previously had made 'Alpine series' (1901), 'The ascent of Mont Blanc' (1902), 'Climbing the Great Schreckhorn' (1902) and 'Ascent of the Jungfrau' (1903). The pictures and descriptions of the Charles Urban Trading 1903 film catalogue show without any doubt that 'Ascent of the Matterhorn' and 'Cervin 1901' are the same film.
Young Einstein
Albert Einstein is the son of a Tasmanian apple farmer, who discovers the secret of splitting the beer atom to put the bubbles back into beer. When Albert travels to Sydney to patent his invention he meets beatuiful French scientist Marie Curie, as well as several unscrupulous types who try to take advantage of the naive genius and his invention.
Cattle Crossing Grindelwald Eismeer
A curious incident which happens in early summer when the cattle are taken to the high pastures for three months.
Ascent and Descent of the Dolomite Towers
Frank Ormiston-Smith, the pioneer mountaineering photograher and filmmaker, filmed in 1906 the ascent to several towers in the Cinque Torri area in the Dolomites, acomppanied by Bortolo Barbaria, Baldessare Verzi and Damiano Dibona, three well-known Ampezzo mountain guides. Among others, the team ascended Torri Inglese, and placed the camera on top of some of the towers by pulling it with a rope. The film, produced by the Urban Trading Company, was presented at the Alhambra Theater in London in November 1906. Ormiston-Smith is considered the father of mountain cinema. In 1902 he filmed the first major mountain film shown widely in cinemas: "The Ascent of Mont Blanc". The success of his films encouraged the production of alpine films in which mountaineering feats were shown, and inspired other pioneer filmmakers.
The Ascent of Mont Blanc
A pioneering mountaineering film made by Frank Ormiston-Smith for the Warwick Trading Company in 1902. Ormiston-Smith himself led and filmed an expedition of seven men up to the top of Mont Blanc. The party left Chamonix the 23rd of september up to Pierre-Pointue and Grands Mulets and reached the top the 25th. The film consists of 18 scenes including a final scene of the team on the summit. This is the first major mountain film shown widely in cinemas. The mountaineering filming is rudimentary by later standards, but in 1902 it gave audiences moving pictures of places, and altitudes, which they could never expect to witness otherwise.
Lost between the Ice
In 1901, Argentine naval officer José María Sobral joins Otto Nordenskjöld’s Swedish scientific expedition to Antarctica. After establishing a winter camp on Snow Hill Island, six men are left stranded when the ship meant to retrieve them never returns. Drawing on Sobral’s diary, this documentary reconstructs their two-year struggle for survival and the Argentine rescue mission led by Lieutenant Julián Irízar aboard the corvette ARA Uruguay.
Stage Coach v. Motor
1903, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Ice Breaker at Stockholm
1905, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Piraeus and Athens (Greece), Hoisting Cattle on Steamer
1. Mooring Cattle on Barges. Preparatory to shipping them to Constantinople. 2. Taking Cattle off to the Steamer. Towing the laden barges through the harbor. 3. Hoisting the Cattle on Board. The cattle being slung by legs and horns from the barges to the liner.
Prize Ski Jumping Contest
1907, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Motoring Over the Alps
1907, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.
Railway Panorama: Jaffa to Jerusalem
1907, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.