Les Résultats du Féminisme -1906

Country: France
Release Date: 1906 (France)
Director: Alice Guy
Also known as: The Consequences of Feminism
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Plot Keywords:
Futurism | Cross Dressing | Effeminacy | Flirting | Hatbox | Gender Roles | Seduction | Mason
This film is a tongue-in-cheek look at what COULD happen if women begin assuming male roles. Throughout the film, the men are very effeminate--wearing flowers in their hair, behaving as if they were gay and doing the housework. It's an interesting juxtaposition. What's also interesting is how the ladies respond. In a scene in a bar, the ladies make sexist advances at men who enter and they sit around drinking, smoking and carousing!

La Possession de l'enfant - 1909

Country: France
Release Date: 26 July 1909 (France)
Also known as: Custody of the Child
Production Co: Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Director: Louis Feuillade
Stars: Renée Carl, Christiane Mandelys and Maurice Vinot
This Louis Feuillade film begins with a man gaining custody of his son. Why the mother loses custody is unknown, but the father is shown as rather cold and unforgiving. The child, though raised in luxury, is miserable and lonely. Later, the father takes the child to his mother's house and seems to forget the kid there! Soon, the mother takes the child home to raise herself. The father has a change of mind and looks for the kid. When he and the police find him with the mother, all is forgiven and the family becomes one once again.
Overall, the story is very, very simplistic and not especially believable. However, for 1909, this is exactly the sort of morality play that was typical and this film is a decent one from this period despite its shortcomings.

High School Field Exercises, Missouri Commision - 1904

Country: USA
Release Date: May 1904 (USA)
Filming Locations: St. Joseph, Missouri, USA
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Genres: Documentary | Short
Mr. A. E. Weed placed his camera beside a high school playing field and then clearly instructed the teachers to get as many pupils as possible to perform some form of field sport within the view of the camera. We see young boys jumping a rather low high jump, young boys shot putting, young boys lurking in the background with a javelin.

Kindergarten Ball Game - 1904

Country: USA
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Genres: Documentary | Short

Asia in America, St. Louis Exposition - 1904

Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 1904 (USA)
Director: A.E. Weed
Also Known As: Asia in America, St. Louis Exposition
Production Co: American Mutoscope & Biograph
Genres: Documentary | Short
A parade by denizens of one of the Oriental Concessions, The Pike, St. Louis.

104th Street Curve, New York, Elevated Railway - 1899

Country: USA
Filming Locations: New York City, New York, USA
Production Co: Edison Manufacturing Company
Plot Keywords: Number In Title
Genres: Documentary | Short
"Taken from the front platform of a special train run backward over this celebrated S curve. Not only are the passing trains and crowded platforms of great interest, but the view of uptown New York is an excellent one, showing acre upon acre of roofs, towers, steeples and towering apartment houses. As the 'special' slows up at 92nd street, a Harlem express dashes by, the engineer leaning out of his cab, and waving a good-bye." Written by Edison Catalog

Comedy Capers

Country: USA
Comedy Capers was a TV series produced in the USA in early 60ies, which aired some short films, both silent and talkies. This program was aired in many countries worldwide, one of then was Brazil. Therefore the video above has the audio and credits dubbed in Portuguese. Anyway, my intention here was to pay a homage to all great comic actors of silent era.

Comedy Capers, also known in Brazil as “Reis do Riso” was a TV serie composed of a package of sequences of short movies of the so-called “silent era” produced by Mack Sennett e Hal Roach within 20ies and 40ies.

They were produced and distributed by National Telepix, which in 1960 had already reissued with a narration series like “Our Gang” by Hal Roach and released under the title “Mischief Makers”.

One year later, in 1961, the same film producer started again to transform short films by Sennett and Hal Roach under the denomination “Comedy Capers” in two reels called "Christie comedy", that were divided in 108 episodes of approximately 12 minutes each one, in 16 mm films in black and white, that were distributed to many TV channels worldwide.

The opening song of the serie was published by National Telepix (BMI), as well as the closing theme “Comedy Capers End Title” also known as “End Theme That´s All, neighbors”, both with music by Jack Saunders and lyrics by Phyllis Brandell together with Jack Saunders.

The sequences were starred by famous comic artists like Snub Pollard, Ben Turpin, Billy Bevan, Harry Langdon, The Keystone Cops, Laurel & Hardy, among others. Some data found suggest that the series was originally presented in syndicated, in the United states this same year. In Brazil it was found information by some authors that this series was presented by Rede Globo de Televisão in the 70ies, under the name “Reis do Riso”.