TRICK. Two bathers arrive at a river, disrobe at the water's edge and dive in. The action is then reversed and the men are seen leaving the water feet first and their clothes fly back on their bodies.
The film is a panorama shot-scene lasting just under a minute. The panorama film, as coined by Lumière, is a moving-camera shot--usually accomplished by placing the camera on a moving transport, such as a boat or train.
The titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese attackers.
A Victorian vaudeville routine is given the big screen treatment with camera tricks galore.Three characters straight off the vaudeville stage - the mischievous tramp, the anarchic clown and the hapless bobby - duke it out here in a sketch involving an exploding gunpowder barrel.
Comic scenes taken at the Nouveau-Cirque by the two famous clowns Foottit and Chocolat. To separate Foottit and Chocolat who are fighting, their servant brings a policeman to whom the two accomplices play all sorts of tricks.
"Nothing new, but an old thing done over again and done well. Some one has attempted to describe a kiss as "something made of nothing," but this is not one of that kind, but one of those old fashioned "home made" kind that sets the whole audience into merriment and motion, and has always proven a popular subject.
A dramatic scene - and exactly what moving pictures were invented for. With a fixed camera and without a traditional narrative, this film nevertheless tells a compelling story as a cast of men and boys fight an impending crisis.