Mephisto’s Son
(Le fils du diable fait la noce à Paris, Charles-Lucien Lépine, France 1906, 16 min., digital)
Ten Wives for One Husband
(Dix femmes pur un mari, Georges Hatot, Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca, France 1905, 3 min., digital)
The Mermaid
(La sirène, Georges Méliès, France 1904, 4 min., 16mm)
Diabolical Pickpocket
(L’insaisissable pickpocket, Segundo de Chomón, France 1908, 3 min., 35mm)
Jane on Strike
(Rosalie fait du sabotage, Romeo Bosetti, France 1911, 5 min., 35mm)
La Petite Rosse
(Léonce Perret, France 1912, 5 min., 35mm)
Tormented by His Mother-in-Law - [Incomplete]
(L’obsession de la belle-mère, Max Linder, France 1908, 3 min., 35mm)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend - [Incomplete]
(Wallace McCutcheon, Edwin S. Porter, US 1906, 3 min., 35mm)
Great Scott!
(Charles Murray, US 1920, 20 min., 35mm)
The Cook
(Roscoe Arbuckle, US 1918, 19 min., 35mm)
At the same time that films were developing narrative, they were sharpening their comedic chops as well. From Méliès’s trick films to legendary silent comedians such as Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle, comedies developed quickly over the fifteen years represented in this program by taking their cameras outside, using multiple sets, and exploring situational comedy in addition to the physical comedy the medium was known for. In its first decade, the comedic film presented a single set-up, often with a single punchline. In its second, it exploded the form and made it what we remember today.
Live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.