Earlier this month I had never watched a movie from the 1910s, but then I watched 10 in a week. Here's the wild spread of debuts and weird interpretations from the decade that gave us the Spanish Flu Pandemic and Babe Ruth being traded.
1910.) 
Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Runtime: 13 Minutes
Director: Otis Turner
Plot: It's an abridged version of The Wizard of Oz with a lot of creative choices.
What I Thought: Rarely do I think something should be longer, but 13 minutes is not nearly enough time to hit on what happens in this story. Apparently, it's based on the stage play and not the book, overall not great.
Rating: 2/5
1911.)
Title: Dante's Inferno
Runtime: 71 Minutes
Director: Francesco Bertolini/Adolfo Padovan
Plot: Loosely based on the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy, a man (Dante) travels through hell with a tour guide (Virgil).
What I Thought: This has some really cool and creepy imagery.
Rating: 3/5
1912.)
Title: The Land Beyond the Sunset
Runtime: 14 Minutes
Director: Harold M. Shaw
Plot: A young boy joins a field trip to the country and dreams of escaping his miserable life.
What I Thought: Well, I liked the ending, but everything before was just ok.
Rating: 2.5/5
1913.)
Title: Suspense
Runtime: 10 Minutes
Director: Phillips Smalley/Lois Weber
Plot: A mother and a child are home alone in the middle of nowhere and her husband must arrive before a drifter wreaks havoc.
What I Thought: Apparently this film is credited for creating the split-screen technique (see image) for movies. This was the idea of Lois Weber who served as the first American female director, joined by her husband for this effort. The film meets its name as you're not sure what'll happen. It was easily the best of the previous movies I had watched when I began this project.
Rating: 3.5/5
1914.)
Title: His Prehistoric Past
Runtime: 22 Minutes
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Plot: The Tramp falls asleep on a bench and dreams he's in the stone age.
What I Thought: There are some gags that work, but you can tell this is one of his first movies.
Rating: 2.5/5
1915.
Title: The Champion
Runtime: 31 Minutes
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Plot: The Tramp finds a horseshoe and uses it to help win a boxing bout. Lots of boxing antics ensue.
What I Thought: A precursor for the silliness that is City Lights, this is still a pretty amusing romp.
Rating: 3/5
1916.)
Title: Police
Runtime: 34 Minutes
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Plot: The Tramp has recently been released from jail, but he immediately gets himself in trouble with the law.
What I Thought: I wasn't super blown away with this one, but the stairs scene was fun.
Rating: 2.5/5
1917.)
Title: The Adventurer
Runtime: 24 Minutes
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Plot: The Tramp breaks out of prison, rescues two women from drowning, and goes to a swanky party. The latter gets his picture in the paper and the police on his trail.
What I Thought: There's a really fun sequence that involves balcony hopping and running around the house.
Rating: 3/5
1918.)
Title: Just Rambling Along
Runtime: 9 Minutes
Director: Hal Roach
Plot: A thief follows a woman in the diner and then gets stuck with her bill instead.
What I Thought: It's the oldest surviving role for Stan Laurel and while it's nothing special, I enjoyed it more than most apparently.
Rating: 3/5
1919.)
Title: The Wicked Darling
Runtime: 59 Minutes
Director: Tod Browning
Plot: A woman steals a necklace, but takes refuge in the home of the woman's former fiance (Lon Chaney).
What I Thought: I was kind of excited because Tod Browning would go on to direct Dracula and Freaks, but he's still honing his craft here.
Rating: 2/5
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