{"id":8564,"date":"2018-04-20T21:21:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T21:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/?p=8564"},"modified":"2026-04-15T20:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:38:32","slug":"a-look-back-at-11908-he-1908-in-the-gregorian-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/?p=8564","title":{"rendered":"A century before Barack Obama: A look back at 1908"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1908,<\/p>\n<p>Robert Baden-Powell\u2019s <em>Scouting for Boys <\/em>was published;<\/p>\n<p>The Olympics were held in London;<\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Cubs won the fifth World Series;<\/p>\n<p>Jack Johnson became the first African-American to win the World Heavyweight Championship;<\/p>\n<p>Henry Ford introduced the Model T;<\/p>\n<p>Bulgaria declared independence from the Ottoman Empire;<\/p>\n<p>William Howard Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan in the US Presidential election;<\/p>\n<p>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were allegedly killed in Bolivia;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>The Christian Science Monitor<\/em> was first published;<\/p>\n<p>Two year old Puyi became Emperor of China;<\/p>\n<p>William Hartnell, Simone de Beauvoir; Paul Henreid, Edward Teller, Cus D\u2019Amato, Buster Crabbe, Tex Avery, Rex Harrison, Anna Magnani, Michael Redgrave, David Lean, Louis L\u2019Amour, Arthur O\u2019Connell, Buddy Ebsen, Bette Davis, Percy Faith, Edward R. Murrow, Oskar Schindler, Eve Arden, Jimmy Stewart, Ian Fleming, Mel Blanc, Don Ameche, Est\u00e9e Lauder, Thurgood Marshall, Nelson Rockefeller, Milton Berle, Lyndon Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Richard Wright, Carole Lombard, Harry Blackmun, Joseph McCarthy, Alistair Cooke, Baby Face Nelson, Morey Amsterdam, Lew Ayres, and Simon Wiesenthal were born;<\/p>\n<p>While Old Tom Morris, Grover Cleveland, and Joel Chandler Harris died.<\/p>\n<p>The following is a list my ten favorite film released in 1908:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Drame Chez Les Fantoches\/Love Affair in Toy Land\/Mystical Love-Making\/Puppet Drama (1908)Emile Cohl\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OqZx6TqmGKs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>10)\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0200592\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">Drama at the Puppet&#8217;s House<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00c9mile Cohl was a key figure in the short lived Incoherent Movement, anticipating the surrealists of the next century. As the movement faded, he migrated to film where he developing his absurdist techniques. Often known as the \u201cFather of the Animated Cartoon,\u201d his work foreshadowed the anarchic streak of twentieth century animation. While his contemporary Meli\u00e9s is rightly lauded as a genius, Cohl\u2019s work goes under recognized because of anti-animation bias.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Electric Hotel 1908 Silent Film Segundo de Chom\u00f3n\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cCzru63JBSE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>9)\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0000516\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>The Electric Hotel<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Reflecting early twentieth century anxieties of electric-powered machinery, Segundo Chom\u00f3n imagines a hotel where everything comes to life in this ambitious use of stop motion techniques.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/external-content.duckduckgo.com\/iu\/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.IHXGzJe_DebFtIEnGV6kDQHaLH%3Fpid%3DApi&amp;f=1&amp;ipt=eec92922ef745cf397fe9f4279fddf50bba9864a54c048c4b2979a6d68b80234&amp;ipo=images\" alt=\"Le r\u00eave des marmitons - Seriebox\" width=\"273\" height=\"410\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>8) <em>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0449381\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">Scullion\u2019s Dream<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Once again, Segundo Chom\u00f3n stretches the boundaries of cinema in this live action \/ animation mash-up. Positioning it as the dreams of hardworking poor people allows him to experiment with reality and argue for cinema as an equalizing force transcending social and class barriers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Magic Bricks (1908) Segundo de Chom\u00f3n\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kjjO5aSo-54?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>7)\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0257889\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>Magic Bricks<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Segundo Chom\u00f3n is one of the most daring early filmmakers. His work is rarely interested in storytelling or establishing a premise; it\u2019s purely visceral, exploring his camera\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Puppet&#039;s Nightmare - Le cauchemar de Fantoche 1908  Emile Cohl (Sumerias1 Restoration)\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7QboS3xL42M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>6)\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0000658\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">The Puppet&#8217;s Nightmare<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In \u00c9mile Cohl\u2019s animated film, a vaguely human figure navigates his life while everything around him changes. He climbs a ladder only for it to morph into a slide; later an inanimate object transforms into a solider. This surreal focus on impermanence, reminds us how unsettling and disturbing the world can be.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908) Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GQb_Z2RPAms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>5)\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0215938\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>Remote Electric Photography<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This film from Georges Meli\u00e9s demonstrates he\u2019s both self-aware enough to recognize the growing fascination with cinema and savvy enough to poke fun at it. What sets him apart from his contemporaries is his frenetic energy and the crispness of his camerawork; he instinctively understood how to translate ideas into the new medium.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE MAGIC HOOP\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1-ybhXR_NXQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0448894\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3\"><em>The Magic Hoop\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A little girl receives a magic hoop from a stranger. When she mounts her gift on a wall, it opens a mirror to a magical world of fantastic and surreal images. \u00c9mile Cohl once again proves himself a master of the animated short. His images are full of life and wit. His films are obviously influenced by the pioneering work of Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s, but M\u00e9li\u00e8s never entered into the actual world of animation (although he frequently employed stop-motion effects). Cohl\u2019s influence can still be seen in the surreal anarchy of modern animation (particularly Looney Tunes shorts such as <em>Duck Amuck<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Emile Cohl - Fantasmagorie 1908\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aEAObel8yIE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0000682\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>Fantasmagorie<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>Considered the first animated film, \u00c8mil Cohl\u2019s two-minute absurdist short chronicling the adventures of a random stick man is a playful and surprisingly dark portrait, full of quirky, gallows humor.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Thieving Hand (1908)\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EGKNXhTe0YE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0288252\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>The Thieving Hand<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>American filmmaker J. Stuart Blackton\u2019s fondness for surrealism is evident in this film about a beggar who acquires an extra arm from the \u201cLimb Store.\u201d Sadly, after a series of mishaps, he\u2019s forced to pawn his rogue arm. The idea of an appendage with a mind of its own has fascinated filmmakers for a long time, but this, amazingly, still holds up over a century later.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Legend Of A Ghost (1908)\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2JqfvWulyrU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0449307\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\"><em>Legend of a Ghost<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>A woman walking through a cemetery meets a ghost who sends her on an errand. Segundo Chom\u00f3n\u2019s film is a visual feast through the labyrinths of hell. While a lot of early filmmakers were obsessed with the underworld because it\u2019s an easy way to tell a story with no words and a huge playground where normal rules don\u2019t apply, Chom\u00f3n\u2019s is one of the most striking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1908, Robert Baden-Powell\u2019s Scouting for Boys was published; The Olympics were held in London; The Chicago Cubs won the fifth World Series; Jack Johnson became the first African-American to win the World Heavyweight Championship; Henry Ford introduced the Model T; Bulgaria declared independence from the Ottoman Empire; William Howard Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/?p=8564\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A century before Barack Obama: A look back at 1908<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1706],"tags":[63,1965,1687,1740,725],"class_list":["post-8564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retrospective","tag-animation","tag-emile-cohl","tag-georges-melies","tag-segundo-de-chomon","tag-silent-films","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8564"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15041,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8564\/revisions\/15041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}