Month: April 2021

Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)

Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)
Article 5632 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-17-2019
Director unknown
Featuring Carl Goliath, Topsy
Country: USA
What it is: Unpleasant documentary.

Topsy the elephant is electrocuted.

One of the unexpected things I found myself contending with as a result of this movie-watching/review project was dealing with movies that someone considered as belonging to the fantastic genres but which, to my eyes, didn’t seem to fit; I often had to stretch my mind to conceive as to why someone would classify them as such, and I included those guesses in my reviews. For example, I never would have expected this silent short to qualify for my project, but someone on IMDB decided to classify this one as “horror”. Well, I will agree it’s horrifying, but that’s not quite the same thing. Still, I can understand someone making this classification.

Well, whether it qualifies or not, it is definitely an upsetting viewing experience, especially for animal lovers. I’ve heard the movie was made by Edison to demonstrate the dangers of alternating current. I’ve also heard the animal was electrocuted as a publicity stunt to promote Luna Park at Coney Island, and that the animal had become impossible to handle. It doesn’t matter to me which explanation is correct; it doesn’t change the fact that the movie is exploitation at its nastiest; it’s an elephant snuff film. Despite its historical value, I wouldn’t recommend this short to anyone.

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The Cabbage Fairy (1896)

The Cabbage Fairy (1896)
aka La fee aux choux
Article 5631 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-16-2019
Directed by Alice Guy
Featuring Alice Guy, Germaine Serand, Yvonne Serand
Country: France
What it is: Not this easy in real life

A cabbage fairy plucks babies out of a cabbage patch.

If you’ve ever been asked by a child where babies come from, and you’re too uptight to tell them truth, you can show them this early silent short; however, if they never took you seriously after that, that’s your problem. Be aware that the movie I saw on YouTube may not be this movie at all; at least one of the user comments on IMDB points out that the movie is lost, and this is a remake from four years later. It also lays claim to being the first fiction movie (implying, of course, that the cabbage fairy is not real), which would mean that it beat out Melies’s LE MANOIR DU DIABLE. At any rate, watching it gave me something quick to review at a time when I’ve slowed down my reviewing routine quite a bit. And I do love covering these very early silents.

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The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
aka Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
Article 5630 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-12-2019
Directed by Lotte Reiniger and Carl Koch
No cast
Country: Germany
What it is: Arabian nights in silhouette animation

An evil sorcerer creates a magical flying horse in an attempt to claim the daughter of a Caliph for his own. The Caliph’s son, Prince Achmed, tries to prevent the scheme, but is spirited away by the flying horse. Can he prevent the sorcerer from prevailing?

This may well be the first feature-length animated movie, a good ten years before SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. I suspect the reason its historical significance is often overlooked is due to the fact that Lotte Reiniger and her silhouette animations are consigned to the fringes of the medium; despite Reiniger’s animation skills, the style never really became popular. The story is a compendium of Arabian Nights cliches, and I suspect a few stories were conflated into the mix; Aladdin and his lamp make appearances in the second half of the movie. I think this movie is well worth seeing; Reiniger’s animation is evocative and capable of expressing real emotion, which is quite surprising when your figures are only silhouettes. No, it will never achieve the fame of Disney’s accomplishments, but it earns its place in the history of animation.

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The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
Article 5629 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-4-2019
Directed by Irving Rapper
Featuring Fredric March, Alexis Smith, Donald Crisp
Country: USA
What it is: Biopic

The life of Mark Twain is shown.

Let’s get the fantastic content out of the way first. The movie is being told by the spirit of Mark Twain, and miniature versions of some of his characters appear at one point. Furthermore, Tom, Huck and Jim appear as friends of Twain in his early years, which seems to imply they’re real people rather than fictional creations. Then there’s a final scene where Twain accompanies his fictional characters to heaven. Though this all remains a bit on the marginal side, the content is nonetheless there.

As for the movie itself, it’s an entertaining enough biopic on the great 19th century humorist, and it’s anchored by an excellent performance by Fredric March in the title role; his Twain always feels like a real human being. Early on in the movie I had to remind myself of a rule I follow whenever I see a Hollywood movie based on true events, and that was not to expect or demand accuracy; the movie is full of neatly-contrived scenes that feel much more like creations from a Hollywood writer than like anything that really happened, and some of the user comments on IMDB imply that the movie is rife with inaccuracies. Still, if it’s accuracy you want, you’re better off with a well-researched biography. Take the movie as a tribute to the man, and you’ll be much more satisfied by it. I do have one caveat; though many of his books are mentioned, I found no reference to his work with the most marked fantastic content, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT.

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The Adventures of * (1957)

The Adventures of * (1957)
aka The Adventures of an Asterisk
Article 5628 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-26-2019
Directed by John Hubley
No cast
Country: USA
What it is: Animated short

A little asterisk takes a frolicking, fun-loving approach to life, despite the scorn of his fuddy-duddy father. However, the asterisk ages and becomes a father himself…. but will he lose his sense of wonder and love of life?

Though there’s plenty of abstract imagery in this animated short, the primary fantastic content is, of course, an anthropomorphized punctuation symbol. However, it should be pointed out that the story itself doesn’t require that the hero be a punctuation symbol; it would work just the same if the hero was a human being, which is pretty much what the anthropomorphism accomplishes. Nevertheless, it’s a fun and enjoyable short, and the jazz soundtrack (from Benny Carter and Lionel Hampton) is excellent. I’m also glad to say that it chose the ending I didn’t expect rather than the one it seemed to be pointing to; it’s nice to have an upbeat story that buoys you up.

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Erlebnisse der Puppe (1966)

Erlebnisse der Puppe (1966)
aka The Adventures of a Doll
Article 5627 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-24-2019
Directed by Franz Winzentsen
No cast
Country: West Germany
What it is: Surreal animated short

A doll with elephant legs plays games and explores the world around her.

The animation is of a style somewhere between a Terry Gilliam animation and FANTASTIC PLANET, and though it feels somewhat comic in the beginning, it takes a darker and more disturbing turn as the short progresses. That’s not to say there’s a whole lot to point to that clearly makes it disturbing (though there’s a shot of what looks like a badly hurt duck at one point); it’s the generally ominous air of the imagery that starts to put you on edge. There doesn’t seem to be an easily summarized story line here, nor can individual events be easily described, as it involves encounters with unidentifiable creatures and things. This is one strange foray into animation.

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Rendezvous in Space (1964)

Rendezvous in Space (1964)
Article 5626 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-23-2019
Directed by Frank Capra
Featuring Marcia McBroom, Jim Backus, Mel Blanc
Country: USA
What it is: Short documentary about space exploration

There’s really no plot to this documentary about space travel; in fact, I’m not sure whether it really has much in the way of a real focus. After an opening in which we see captioned footage of the Earth as seen from a capsule in outer space, we are treated to faked “man on the street” interviews (many of those interviewed are well-known character actors such as Sid Melton and Charles Lane), various animated bits about various aspects of space exploration, and a few predictions of developments that would occur in the near future of space exploration. It was Frank Capra’s last film, and it was filmed for the Marietta Corporation and was shown at the Hall of Science Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. If anything is holding it together, it’s the sense of wonder and adventure that pervaded the space race at the time. It makes for an entertaining watch, but the scattershot feel of the short prevents it from having any real focused impact.

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Przygoda w paski (1960)

Przygoda w paski (1960)
aka An Adventure in Stripes
Article 5625 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-22-2019
Directed by Alina Maliszewska
No cast
Country: Poland
What it is: Animated short

A lonely female striped elephant is rejected by the herd of white elephants she follows. Meanwhile, a lonely male striped elephant is rejected by the herd of black elephants he follows. What will happen when these two striped elephants meet?

I think most anyone could make a guess as to what would happen when these two elephants meet, so I can’t exactly say that unpredictability plays a big role in this animated short. Fortunately, it’s the character touches that lift this one up. The hunger of two elephants for love and their affinity for dealing with children (elephants) in a positive way make you feel their yearning for love and companionship. And there is at least one plot point that isn’t easily predictable. I’m not sure if this is the first Polish animated short I’ve encountered for this series, but I found this one fairly entertaining and likable.

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Flip (2004)

Flip (2004)
Article 5624 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-21-2019
Directed by Kirk Demarais
Featuring Landen Knowlton, Harrison Knowlton, Jamey Clayberg
Country: USA
What it is: Slice of life short

A monster kid from the sixties named Flip is given a dollar by his grandma for his birthday, with the admonition to “Spend it wisely!” He fantasizes what might happen if he buys any of several different items from the novelty page in his favorite horror comic book.

The first thing you may notice about this short is that it looks like a pretty low-budget affair. However, it won’t take you long to realize that it doesn’t matter; the script is so clever and so perceptive that it wins you over. It does an excellent job of seeing the situation from the boy’s perspective, and it’s done almost entirely without dialogue; the only talking that occurs is during a movie-within-a-movie sequence, and the imagined “spend it wisely” admonition popping up sporadically – everything else is conveyed visually. The fantastic content occurs throughout; two of the items he considers buying (a werewolf mask and a u-control monster) are full of horror content, and the movie within a movie is a horror film. It’s also utterly charming to see the main character’s journey from hope to disappointment, only to have a coda illustrate how the nostalgia of a shared experience can change everything. This is a fine short, and highly recommended.

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The Adventure (1972)

The Adventure (1972)
aka Kuang feng sha, The Iron Fist Adventure
Article 5623 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-21-2019
Directed by Su Li
Featuring Jimmy Wang Yu, Paul Chang Chung, Yeh Tien
Country: Taiwan
What it is: Martial Arts Action Adventure

A captain of the 6th Union Brotherhood vows revenge for a massacre in which his former captain was killed. He finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy for possession of Manka House.

Sometimes cultural differences make it a bit difficult for me to say whether a movie I see has authentic fantastic content. This one is listed in the Walt Lee guide as having “mystic martial arts”, but personally, I didn’t find any overt mysticism in the martial arts on display here. I do wonder if the action takes place in some sort of fantasy world; despite the fact that most of the movie seems to take place in a period setting of some sort, the guns in use look surprisingly modern, and seem out of place. The plot is a bit confusing, but it’s one of those movies that seem primarily to exist for its action set pieces, and those are passable if not inspired. Still, the movie’s English title deserves an award for the most generically titled movie I’ve covered for this series since THE SHOW.

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