Glad Rags to Riches

Robinet, the lead in this Italian slapstick comedy, wants to be an aviator in the worst way, and this being an Italian slapstick, that's how he does it. Italian slapstick in this period was absolutely bone-breaking, so much so that it makes Keystone slapstick look like drawing-room comedy by contrast.

Three woman playing a game of catch leads to one of them exposing herself as she gets stuck whilst peering out the window.

Benitez pretends to be a toreador and his friends decide to pull a prank on him.

Funny how we think of the loutish behaviour of some of today's teens as a modern-day phenomenon. Here, in a short film more than one hundred years old, we see two tearaways terrorising a bed-ridden old lady, sabotaging a number of honest workmen as they go about their daily work, vandalising a bakery and taking a vehicle without consent - all in the space of six frenetic minutes.

A British trick film with stop-motion animation by an unknown film maker.

Max, awakening on his wedding morning, discovers that it is close on the hour when he should be at the church. He dresses hastily, and in struggling with a refractory collar, allows his boots to be burnt by the fire. There is no time to change them, and he hastens off to the bride's house. On the way his soles part company with their uppers, and poor Max enters into negotiations with a passing labourer for the purchase of his footgear.

Arthème loves playing the clarinet. He plays it in the streets, in the park, in the streetcar (at least when he does not miss it!). When he unfortunately walks under a piano clumsy removers are hauling, the heavy instrument falls down on him and he swallows his clarinet. A lot of people try to extirpate the protruding instrument but they all fail. Three farriers finally succeed in making him return to his former self.

FRIEND REQUEST PENDING is a short comedy drama about the mature generation dating in our modern social networking world. It's a tale of love but more importantly life long friendship. The twelve-minute tale tells the story of Mary (Judi Dench) and Linda (Penny Ryder) who spend an afternoon discussing the pleasures, pitfalls and problems with using social networking to try and woo the local choirmaster Trevor (Philip Jackson).

Two crooks throw a lady off a roof, and a hapless policeman tries to capture them.

A bill poster comes upon a blank wall, and immediately puts up a poster advertising a movie show at one location.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hayseed have heard of this wonderful Professor, and come to his office. They waken him from a trance, give him a fee and he hypnotizes them. The stunts they do while under his influence would make the Sphinx laugh for joy. Hayseed stands on his head, balances himself on a chair and takes off his clothes. Mrs. Hayseed also begins to disrobe, but she goes behind a screen. Her bare arm appears over the top, and she drops her clothes on the floor. It is a hair raising moment to guess what she's going to do next. The mystical appearances and lightning changes are managed with wonderful cleverness.” (Edison film catalog)

Vaudeville comedians Foottit and Chocolat hop and dance around and occasionally fight.

Papa is reading his newspaper and his little girl tickles his neck with a long straw. Thinking it is a fly papa "shoos" away the supposed fly with his hand…

“A clever characteristic dance called the 'Yellow Kid.' Very unique. Stage is in the Sutro Baths, San Francisco, Cal., and the audience is composed largely of bathers.” (Edison Catalog)

The scene takes place in a fashionable cafe. A well dressed couple enter, and after a careful perusal of the menu, conclude on an order of boiled eggs and Welsh rarebit.

This scene opens by showing a pretty cook mixing bread in the kitchen. Jones comes in unexpectedly from a trip and carries a dress suitcase. He inquires for his wife and is told by the cook that she is absent. Jones is hungry and asks for something to eat. The cook is very obliging and Jones becomes unruly, chuckles the cook under the chin. The cook puts her arms around Jones' neck and leaves finger imprints of flour on his back. This is where the trouble commences. (Edison catalogue)

A chimney sweep and a miller become involved in a street fight. The sweep has a bag of soot on his back, and the miller a bag of flour.

This is a new adventure in which our friend, Mr. Hooligan, appears in an entirely new capacity. On a stage a professor of magic is performing some wonderful experiments, and when he requests some assistance Happy Hooligan immediately volunteers his services and climbs upon the platform.

As the above title indicates, the scene does not take place in an ordinary restaurant, but one in which all natural rules of order and gravitation are reversed. The couple above mentioned have a most trying experience while endeavoring to partake of a square meal. They find themselves flying about the room from chairs to table, and vice versa, until they are both completely bewildered, ending in a general mix-up, which is sure to provoke much merriment. The film was a Vitagraph production filmed somewhere between late 1899 and September 1900 at the company's rooftop studio in New York City, but later acquired and copyrighted by the Edison Company on December 1901.

Cretinetti goes hunting with his friends, stalking the ferocious Chicken, and produces a typical Italian slapstick, which makes your typical Keystone slapstick look like tea time at the Ritz. Raw, bone-breaking slapstick.