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Rhapsody in 35MMAuthor: Catherine Goshen
Each season, we will focus on a particular genre of film and explore its roots in hopes to illuminate the shadows and dark corners of film history. Throughout each season, we will discuss aspects of film history that are routinely overlooked and provide little-known details on interesting parts of film history that should be brought to light. Language: en Genres: Film History, TV & Film Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep 9: REMIXED: The Brighton School and the Intersection of Melies, Smith, and Phalke
Episode 9
Saturday, 23 May, 2026
This episode examines the early development of cinema through the work of Brighton-based filmmakers George Albert Smith and James Williamson—members of what later historians called the "Brighton School"—and explores how many early filmmakers, including Georges Méliès and Dadasaheb Phalke, came from backgrounds in magic, stage entertainment, and magic-lantern shows. The discussion highlights Smith's topical trick film The X-Rays, inspired by the public craze following Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's discovery of X-rays, and Williamson's increasingly ambitious narrative filmmaking such as Attack on a China Mission. Central to this emerging industry was American-born producer and distributor Charles Urban, whose Warwick Trading Company distributed films by Smith, Williamson, and Méliès while helping shift cinema from pure spectacle toward narrative storytelling. The episode culminates with Urban's collaboration with Méliès on the reconstructed news film The Coronation of Edward VII, a staged "actuality" created to compete with exclusive footage of the real coronation at Westminster Abbey, illustrating both the growing commercial power of film and the transition from trick-film attractions to more sophisticated narrative and documentary forms at the turn of the 20th century. Check out our website at https://www.rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com/ and subscribe so you don't miss a new posting. Please make sure to follow us on the social media platform of your choice (or all of them!) Rate and comment so more people can find us. See the blog post for credits: https://www.rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com/post/ep-9-remixed-the-brighton-school-and-the-intersection-of-melies-smith-and-phalke Until next time!
