A dog steals a string of sausages and runs away. He is pursued by half the town. The pursuers stumble over the other half of the town, but they are too busy plucking chickens or riding pigs to join the run.
That pretty much describes the chase comedy in Europe. Simple versions show up in 1904, and otherwise unadorned versions in 1914. The only variations are slight matters of geography -- there are no oceans for everyone to fall into here -- and what is being chased. Sometimes it's people, sometimes it's people on bicycles, and sometimes it's huge wheels of cheese that defy the laws of gravity and inertia. Here, at least, the dog's behavior makes sense, and if the other people behave like that fairy tale in which everyone is stuck to a stolen goose or anyone who is stuck to anyone holding the stolen goose..... Well, it's early days for a full reel of comedy chase.
It's not that the comedy chase died out. In the end, it became part of the grammar of movie comedy, something to end the movie on: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
There's some dispute whether Alice Guy or some one else directed this. While accuracy is always good, the vehemence surprises me.
That pretty much describes the chase comedy in Europe. Simple versions show up in 1904, and otherwise unadorned versions in 1914. The only variations are slight matters of geography -- there are no oceans for everyone to fall into here -- and what is being chased. Sometimes it's people, sometimes it's people on bicycles, and sometimes it's huge wheels of cheese that defy the laws of gravity and inertia. Here, at least, the dog's behavior makes sense, and if the other people behave like that fairy tale in which everyone is stuck to a stolen goose or anyone who is stuck to anyone holding the stolen goose..... Well, it's early days for a full reel of comedy chase.
It's not that the comedy chase died out. In the end, it became part of the grammar of movie comedy, something to end the movie on: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
There's some dispute whether Alice Guy or some one else directed this. While accuracy is always good, the vehemence surprises me.
