An Extraordinary Cab Accident

Starring: Unknown
Directed by: Walter R. Booth, Robert W. Paul
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Comedy
Length: 43 seconds
1903

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A man is run over by a horse and carriage.

Review:

Tim: I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in An Extraordinary Cab Accident. I usually am not overly harsh with these early-cinema films, but this film came out in 1903, and better special effects had already been done at this time, and also by the same people involved in this film. This short comedy is fine, but it doesn't represent anything particularly special.

The story is simple, as you might expect. A man is speaking to a woman, and steps off the curb into the street. At this moment, he is hit and run over by a horse and carriage. This is the first issue I have with the film, as the join is incredibly obvious. The position of the man changes abruptly. Now, I will say that the visual effect of seeing a man run over by a horse and the wagon wheels is a bit shocking. It must have been somewhat difficult to watch at that time. The cut scene so obviously involves a dummy getting run over, and the cut scene back to the real person is equally as obvious. I understand that happens, and usually, I can forgive it. However, in this case, it appeared that almost no concern was given into how obvious it was. The dummy has a thick head of dark hair, and the man has thinner, lighter, shorter hair. There's no question about it. I do not understand why more care wasn't given to match these up. It was frustrating.

So the man is run over, and the wagon driver keeps going (this is an extremely early example of a hit-and-run). A policeman goes to chase the driver down, while another man flips the victim over. I'm not sure what happens here, as the helper just stands up and stares at the victim (is he mourning because the man has died?). The woman he was talking to is sobbing nearby. And suddenly, the man jumps up (unhurt). The woman grabs his hat, and they run away together, laughing. The man helping him laughs, too.

I just don't get this movie. For something so simple, it just seems confusing and trivial to me. I'm sure audiences laughed lightheartedly at the whole thing, but it felt far too pointless to me. I suppose I get the idea and the intent, but I don't love it. This film would have been more impressive if it had come out several years earlier. As such, it feels dated, even by 1903 standards.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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