It's hard to rate a film on a scale of one to ten, when the film is only three minutes long, black and white, silent, but a historical reenactment of the execution of President McKinley's assassin. On a level of historical importance, this film probably deserves a ten, it is stunning to the viewer's eye in the opening moments when we get to see the outside of the actual prison. Fade to the indoors of the prison, we are treated with some slow-moving action in the form of guards bringing Leon Czolgosz to his death. I was under the impression that this film was of the actual execution when I first came across it, but a little reading lets us know it is a faithful reenactment. It comes off as how you would imagine a real execution would look like, but is really only truly notable because of the people involved (Thomas Edison and Edwin S. Porter) and the impact they would make on endless films of the future.
In that case, the film is truly revolutionary, it is only three to four minutes long depending on how many frames per second you're watching it at, so you can watch it without having to worry about it being a time-waster. Of course it isn't though, it's a fascinating spectacle on many different levels.
EXECUTION OF CZOLGOSZ WITH PANORAMA OF AUBURN PRISON -----8/10.
In that case, the film is truly revolutionary, it is only three to four minutes long depending on how many frames per second you're watching it at, so you can watch it without having to worry about it being a time-waster. Of course it isn't though, it's a fascinating spectacle on many different levels.
EXECUTION OF CZOLGOSZ WITH PANORAMA OF AUBURN PRISON -----8/10.
