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The Animated Poster (1903) Online

The Animated Poster (1903) Online
Original Title :
The Animated Poster
Genre :
Movie / Short / Comedy
Year :
1903
Type :
Movie
Rating :
5.4/10

Shows an old house in the background with one window with the shutters closed. A bill poster comes along and puts up a poster advertising a burlesque show. When his work is finished the ... See full summary

The Animated Poster (1903) Online

Shows an old house in the background with one window with the shutters closed. A bill poster comes along and puts up a poster advertising a burlesque show. When his work is finished the picture of an actress in tights is seen on the building. The poster is so placed that when the shutters are opened, the head of the picture is cut off. An old maid in the house is annoyed by the noise made by the bill-poster and opens the shutters to remonstrate. When the shutters are opened the old maid's head appears in such a position as to make it seem that the head of the figure on the poster had come to life. This amuses the passersby, but the bill-poster, not wishing the advertising part of the bill cut from view forces the shutters closed and again plasters paste on them. Suddenly they are thrown open again and the old maid throws a pail of water on her tormentor, who falls over into his paste tub.


User reviews

Bluecliff

Bluecliff

Edwin S. Porter does a variation on a fairly typical Melies piece, the one in which someone sticks posters up on the walls, only to have them come alive, but without any of the overt magic -- sort of like reading Herodotus and noticing that you've read this story before in Bullfinch's mythology, only there it has a magic ring.

Although usually remembered only for THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, which most histories of film would have us believe was some sort of one-shot breakthrough, Porter was a wildly experimental film creator. Here, in trying to create a less magical version of Melies, he was working on his own film grammar that would continue to dominate Edison production until long after he left.