CITY HALL TO HARLEM IN 15 SECONDS, VIA THE SUBWAY ROUTE (1904)
Article 4853 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-22-2015
Director unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Comic short

A subway working man tries to set off an explosion and is too close to it when it goes off. What will be his fate?

From the title, I was half expecting a rapid fast-motion chronicle of the trip aboard a subway car, but it looks like the mode of transportation is the working man flying through the air as a result of the explosion. The effect is done by having the man suspended in the air while a moving background whizzes past; in fact, it’s a bit difficult to tell if the man is flying right to left or left to right. It all leads up to a fairly obvious gag. Incidentally, the whole movie runs about two minutes and a half, and the flight sequence does run somewhat longer than 15 seconds. It’s an okay trick film, but nothing special.