''The Last Cartridges'' (french: Les Dernières Cartouches, also released as ''Bombardement d'une Maison''; Star Film Catalogue no. 105) is an 1897 French

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

silent

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Georges Méliès, based on the 1873 painting of the same name by

Alphonse de Neuville Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville (31 May 183518 May 1885) was a French academic painter who studied under Eugène Delacroix. His dramatic and intensely patriotic subjects illustrated episodes from the Franco-Prussian War, the Crimean War, the ...

. The film recreates the defense of a house at Bazeilles, on September 1, 1870 at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

during the Franco-Prussian War. The film was a great success and inspired the Lumière, Pathé and Gaumont studios to film imitations.

Synopsis

A group of soldiers attempt to defend a derelict house, where a nun cares for their wounded, but the house is bombed as they fire the last of the rounds of ammunition they have gathered from the floor.

References

External links

*
SilentEra entry for Lumiere version, stating this was one of the earliest hand-coloured films
* 1897 films 1897 short films 1890s war films Films directed by Georges Méliès Films set in 1870 Franco-Prussian War films French black-and-white films French silent short films French war films Silent war films 1890s French films 1890s French-language films {{short-silent-film-stub