Dog Factory

Starring: N/A
Directed by: Edwin S. Porter
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Comedy
Length: 4 minutes
1904

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two men have a dog transformer- a machine that turns dogs into sausages for easy storing, before turning them back into dogs!

Review:

Tim: I think I like the idea of Dog Factory better than I like the movie itself. Apparently, this comedy was based on a very familiar and popular gag in the day. Dogs are put into a "machine" and come out as sausages. When you put the sausages in the machine, they come out as dogs! This is pretty funny when you think about it, even if the idea is beyond basic.

This movie milks the gag for all its worth- and then some- and still tops out at only 4 minutes long. It is probably hard to watch this film by today's standards because it is so incredibly obvious how it was done. I question whether audiences in the early 20th century would have questioned it, because it seems so obvious and silly. However, apparently, this was really funny then, because a number of movies of the vaudeville act were filmed. That means Dog Factory isn't exactly unique (it wasn't the first), although you could perhaps may a claim it's one of the best.

I am trying to be a bit forgiving because of how early this film was (1904!), but I just feel like there was more potential here. The same gag happens four or five times, which causes it to lose it effectiveness. I was a bit bored the third time around. However, I did like seeing the reaction of the dogs when they came out of the machine. Most didn't look too happy, which was humorous to watch.

This film is pretty short, so it's not very hard to watch. It is silly and stupid, but so are most comedies today. I wouldn't say this is a particularly brilliant or memorable short, but it's funny and I'm sure it made people laugh back in the day. For that reason, it's worth checking out.

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



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: N/A