Comic Costume Race
Comic Costume Race
| 01 January 1896 (USA)
Comic Costume Race Trailers

Three athletes make their way to wicker baskets that contain a mishmash of wacky costumes. They need to dress up as quickly as they can, and make their way back on the running track.

Reviews
Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
He_who_lurks While this is not staged and is still a documentary at heart, it also merits being one of the earliest films that can be attributed to the comedy genre. Imagine how audiences laughed at this! While it's only a minute long, back then people must have enjoyed every moment of this film. Three men, participants in a costume race, run across a field and open up some baskets, and in turn put on the costumes each one contains. Talk about comical! One of the guys is even wearing a tutu like a ballerina! Another is dressed like a fireman! It just goes to show that Robert Paul knew exactly what audiences would love--and while still a documentary it's more interesting than seeing workers leaving a factory. Even today this just might raise a smile.
boblipton 1896 was the year that Robert W. Paul began to produce a lot of films for the growing British market. It was also the year that the modern Olympics were revived. That was in Athens, however. Nor has this event ever been one of the Olympic Games: not officially, anyway, although since the introduction of synchronized swimming, I'm not ruling anything out.Some men run towards the camera on a field marked with lanes. When they reach mid-closeup distance, they stop at what look like wicker picnic baskets, open them up and start to put on the clown garbs within, then run back to their starting points.It's a simple camera setup shot in one continuous take. At this stage, this was how films were shot and composed. It's an amusing, very short film and bog-standard for its era.