Ex-Convict, The (1904)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Wonderful little short about an ex con finding it impossible to find people that trusts him enough to give him a job. This all changes when he saves a young girl from being ran over by a car. This here runs just over nine minutes and it's rather amazing at how much detail they squeeze in. There's no doubt the film is a political statement saying cons should be forgiven once their time is served but the ending is quite sad and very touching.
Strenuous Life; Or the Anti-Race Suicide (1904)
** (out of 4)
Another Edison short, boring as hell and I'm really not sure what it was about. The most interesting thing was the "warning" at the start of the film that other filmmakers are not allowed to use clips from this film in their film.
Kleptomaniac, The (1905)
*** (out of 4)
Another political statement from Edison that still rings true one-hundred years after being made. A rich woman steals a fur piece while a poor woman steals a loaf of bread for her starving child. In court, the rich woman gets off while the poor woman has her daughter taken away and is thrown in jail.