The Gay Shoe Clerk

Starring: Edward Boulden (uncredited)
Directed by: Edwin S. Porter
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Comedy
Length: 85 seconds
1903

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: A shoe clerk helps a young woman try on a shoe, and when he kisses her, her chaperone grows angry.

Review:

Tim: The Gay Shoe Clerk is an interesting early film. It clocks in at just over a minute, but is surprisingly lively for such a short film. The plot is pretty basic- a shoe clerk greets a young woman and her chaperone. He gets her a shoe, puts it on her foot, and she lifts up her skirt to reveal her ankle and calf. He kisses her, and gets whacked by the chaperone.

What impressed me about this film was the timing of it all. The three actors did a good job with their movement and gestures- not a second is wasted. From the chaperone sitting down, to the shoe clerk handing her a paper to the clerk getting a second pair of shoes (the first weren't right), all these movements happen quickly, and the timing had to be rgith to make it work.

Interestingly, this is also one of the earliest films to have a close up. Instead of a single shot film, we get a close up view of the shoe clerk tying the laces of the shoe on the young woman, and see as she slowly raises her skirt. That is important. I've also heard this film called one of the earliest romantic comedies, or even "sex" comedies, as it were in 1903. It is interesting that the relationship between men and women would be explored in the earliest moments of world cinema. In that regard, not much has changed over 100 years later.

Like a lot of these short films from the early days of American film, this movie is interesting, but it requires some work to watch, think about, and research. On the surface, through our modern Hollywood-filtered eyes, there's not a great deal here. While simple, though, this movie is important. When I think about where world cinema has gone from these early roots, it amazes me. Movie lovers should check this film out.



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



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