National Film Library catalogue (1938)

Section II 1^03-1911 Introductory Note THE SHORT films of two or three minutes' duration often fell, sometimes fortuitously, into simple plots, but they were not long enough to tell a story. A general demand for story f lms about the year 1903 led to the advent of the one-reel film which might be anything up to 1,000 feet in length. Classic examples of early story films are "The Great Train Robbery" (America, 1903), "Rescued by Rover" (Great Britain, 1904) and "The Life of Charles Peace" (Great Britain, 1903-4). For the next six years these one-reel films reigned supreme and on the strength of their popularity cinemas sprang up in all parts of the country, becoming so numerous that eventually they had to be brought under legislative control by the Cinematograph Act of 1909. Films at this time were sold on the open-market principle. That is to say, a producer would sell copies of a film to several different renters, and an exhibitor might obtain the film from any one of them. A gradual but rapid expansion in the length of films which began in 1909 culminated in the arrival of the first full-length feature film (usually defined as a film over 3,000 feet in length) in 191 1 , and from that point the onereel film gradually died although it did not finally disappear from cinema programmes for several years. As a matter of convenience all one-reel films, including those produced after 191 1, have been included in this section. Dramas AFRA (Italy) Afra, an African negress, is bought at a Roman slave-market. She is rescued and escapes with her mistress's child. The mistress prays to the goddess who shows her, in a vision, where the child is to be found. She goes thither, through underground caves, and mermaids return the child to her ; she returns to her attendants. production : Cines. Positive, one reel, condition : Fair, rather shrunk. donor : Harry Price Esq. in]