The '?' Motorist

I saw this film today along with quite a few other silent shorts at the German Film Museum in Frankfurt. And, if you want to see it, perhaps you'll want to stop by as well. It is among the best of the shorts they showed--mostly because it was so incredibly stupid--and I mean that in a very positive way! This film begins with some insane drivers out for a ride. A cop tries to stop them and he gets run over for his troubles. But, since this is a wacky film, he's okay AND the drivers begin doing nutty things. I loved seeing the trick shot where the car seemed to drive up the wall! Later, it even flew through space. This was pretty cheesy, but for 1906 it was great. Overall, an incredibly creative and silly film--one that elicited a few laughs when it was played today.

This is an exceptional trick film from early cinema. The trick film was one of the most popular genres of the time, popularized and created by Georges Méliès. This one by Robert W. Paul and Walter R. Booth is superior to Méliès's films in the respect that it's not chained to the tableau style of storytelling that Méliès relentlessly pursued in his attempt to make film an extension of theatre. That is, instead of one complete scene followed by another, generally linked by dissolves, this film is linked by simple, continuously smoother cuts. Scenes are somewhat dissected and action moves from shot to shot in a modern continuity fashion. It also isn't confined to the stage--the cramped studio in which Méliès worked with the camera taking the position of the proscenium arch.

The open space allows for the common gag of a car running over a man (replaced by a dummy), which is technically done fairly well here for the time. From there, the car and occupants drive up a building and up to the sky and, eventually, outer space. The sky and outer space bit seems characteristic of what Méliès had been doing. The final gag is also quite clever--playing with the notion of the good 'ole horse carriage as safe and the newfangled automobile as dangerous: a common theme in trick films. This is zany, fun stuff, and I can see why these "cinema of attractions" continued to coexist with the generally less-entertaining story films. Apparently, having since left Paul and Paul having since left the movie business, Booth remade this in 1911 as "The Automatic Motorist".

Director Walter Booth's silent short follows a couple in a magical car as the they travel to the moon, hitch a ride on a comet, and take a spin on Saturn's rings before returning to Earth only to run afoul of the law. The film is one of a number of fanciful shorts produced by cinema pioneer Robert Paul. The substitution splices are quite good for the time (especially the switch between the live policeman and the dummy that gets run over). The animation and double exposures are less effective (e.g. the car is translucent and out of scale when it crashes into the courtroom). The images of the car circling Saturn are quaint but memorable. The film was remade and expanded by Booth (then working with producer Charles Urban) as 'The Automatic Motorist' (1911), which follows much the same story except that the car is driven by a robot chauffeur and the trip includes a visit to Saturn's interior and an underwater excursion.

I watched this film on a DVD that was rammed with short films from the period. I didn't watch all of them as the main problem with these type of things that their value is more in their historical novelty value rather than entertainment. So to watch them you do need to be put in the correct context so that you can keep this in mind and not watch it with modern eyes. With the Primitives & Pioneers DVD collection though you get nothing to help you out, literally the films are played one after the other (the main menu option is "play all") for several hours. With this it is hard to understand their relevance and as an educational tool it falls down as it leaves the viewer to fend for themselves, which I'm sure is fine for some viewers but certainly not the majority. What it means is that the DVD saves you searching the web for the films individually by putting them all in one place – but that's about it.

Anyway, I watched this films having just finished moaning about Paul's weak melodrama Buy Your Own Cherries and found myself facing another film from his company if not him himself. However the difference was wonderful and I found the imagination and pioneering work evident here that I see in Paul's best films. Good on so many levels this film is impressive when you put it in the context of when it was made and how much of a novelty things were then. Not only was film a novelty but so were cars and here we have a film that is impressive as a film and, as a film – if you see the difference.

"As a film", this impressed me because it was inventive and funny and seemed made to entertain me and not just show me what the media can do. The second "as a film" relates to how it is made because, although very dated of course, the effects are all good not only in their use but also in the range of techniques used. Heck, I was even quite taken by how smooth the edit between scenes was. Overall then, although directed by Walter Booth, this film stands as a great example of the early work done in British cinema by Robert Paul and his company.

Pros: 1. The quick cut edits help to give the short a suitable fun and upbeat feel. 2. The special effects are far ahead of their time, and they still hold up 114 years later. 3. The set design is beautifully quaint, especially the outer space setting.

Cons: 1. The plot makes little sense, and clearly most of the thought was directed to the special effects, instead of composing a compelling story. 2. The comedy completely misses , and whilst it may have been funny yesteryear, the the humour hasn't aged well. 3. The lack of intriguing characters makes it difficult to be properly invested.