Film historian Matt Page has been researching film adaptations of the Bible for over 20 years. And yet only one of his picks for 1907 stems from that source and this wide-ranging conversation also reaches chases, tricks, and more.

Matt is the author of the BFI’s 100 Bible Films book and has contributed to a variety of books and journals. He also runs the Bible Films Blog.

Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1907!

Films and resources mentioned:

• The Race for the Sausage (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1907) - Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien Nonguet
• Cinderella (1907) - Albert Capellani
• The Red Spectre (1907) - Segundo de Chomón
• The Blind Man of the Village (1907) - Antonio Cuesta and Ángel García Cardona
• Ben-Hur (1959) - William Wyler
• The King of Kings (1927) - Cecil B. DeMille
• The Sign of the Cross (1932) - Cecil B. DeMille
• Golgotha (1935) - Julien Duvivier
• L’exode (1910) - Louis Feuillade
• Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) - Louis Le Prince
• Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888) - Louis Le Prince
• The Butterflies (1906) - unknown
• Ben Hur (1907) - Sidney Olcott and Frank Oakes Rose
• Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) - Fred Niblo
• The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• The Irresistible Piano (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Madame’s Cravings (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• The Cleaning Man (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• The Cabbage Fairy (1896) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• That Fatal Sneeze (1907) - Lewin Fitzhamon
• The Runaway Horse (1908) - Louis J. Gasnier
• The Consequences of Feminism (1906) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Rescued by Rover (1905) - Cecil Hepworth and Lewin Fitzhamon
• Jerusalem, Jaffa Gate, East Side (1897) - Louis Lumière, Auguste Lumière, and Alexandre Promio
• The Life of Our Savior; or, the Passion Play (1914) - Maurice Maître
• Cinderella (1899) - Georges Méliès
• Cinderella (1950) - Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi
• Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973) - Václav Vorlíček
• Schindler’s List (1993) - Steven Spielberg
• Cinderella (1911) - George Nichols
• The Doll’s Revenge (1907) - Cecil Hepworth
• The Haunted Hotel (1907) - J. Stuart Blackton
• The Haunted House (1907) - Segundo de Chomón
• A Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges Méliès
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - James Whale
• Laughing Gas (1907) - Edwin S. Porter
• “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”