Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) Eugen Sandow appeared in quite a few very early short film late in the 19th century and early in the 20th, but at least about this one here, i cannot really see the appeal. He wears nothing but a slip (and a prominent mustache) and shows us his repertoire of how he loves to flex his very well-trained muscles. Maybe a vintage Schwarzenegger, but I can not really see any redeemable or artistic qualities in this 45-second (fairly long for that time) short film by silent movie pioneer William K.L. Dickson. It's all posing, but I wasn't impressed beyond the physical strength. Definitely one of the director's weaker films, but with his quantity not everyone can be a winner.

Michael_Elliott Sandow (1894) Carmencita (1894) Boxing Cats (1894) Caicedo With Pole (1894) Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894)Cockfight, no. 2 (1894) These six shorts from Edison, still early in the movie game, are rather interesting because of the self promoting factor in them. It's clear a few famous folks thought appearing in movies might bring more people to their actual show and on that level these shorts remain very interesting today. That's especially true when you consider the lack of footage of such acts. Sandow is Eugene Sandow, the man who claimed to be the strongest in the world. Shot on March 6, 1894, we see Sandow flexing in various ways in front of the camera. I'm not sure what he was thinking at the time of shooting but seeing this today is quite a laugh. Carmencita is the famous dancer doing her belly dance on screen making her the first woman to appear in an American movie. The film has become somewhat famous over the past several years because of various documentaries doing studies about early sexuality and how it caused so much controversy. This film, as innocent as they come, did strike a bit of outrage when originally released so it's fun to look at with that in mind. It's also worth noting that this was the first movie listed on the IMDb. Boxing Cats would have PETA members throwing a fit today but in 1894 seeing two animals fight, in a funny manor, was quite entertaining. Prof. Welton can be seen in the center of the frame directing his two cats, with boxing gloves on, to fight. This is actually pretty funny and it's worth noting that the cats throw more punches than a lot of the real fights that were filmed around this time with humans. Caicedo With Pole has hire-wire specialist Juan Caicedo jumping, bouncing and flipping on his wire, which must have been an amazing site when originally released. Annabelle Butterfly Dance features the famous Annabelle Moore dancing around a stage in a white outfit with wings attached. This here probably remains one of the most viewed shorts from this era with its images being shown throughout the world when it comes to exploring early cinema. Cockfight, no. 2 would be controversial today as it features two birds going after one another while two men in the background make bets. This was actually a remake so to speak as the original film was released earlier in the year and was apparently so popular that the prints wore out, which caused the studio to make this version. Apparently the original version didn't feature the men in the background.

Boba_Fett1138 This is the first Edison film that actually features a 'celiberity', which makes this a bit more than just another typical usual Edison Manufacturing Company film, by William K.L. Dickson.The man in the film was Eugen Sandow (real name Friederich Wilhelm Mueller). He claimed to have been the strongest person alive at the time and who knows, maybe he was. I mean, it was not like bodybuilding was an extremely popular or common thing back in 1894. He was quite a celebrity back in his time and had friends in the highs societies of which Thomas Edison also appeared to be one of. He also seemed to be a generous person, who also contributed a lot to the world of bodybuilding. Some of his influences and ideas are even still notable today.He takes lots of different positions within this short film, exhibiting his muscular physique. Sometimes he goes a bit out of frame with his arms, which of course obviously was not intended and sort of makes you question if Edison and Co. were also happy with the result.Even though he was only 27 at the time, he looked much older. He also died at a fairly young age of 58 years. But who knows, perhaps he looks old in this because the image quality of course also isn't the highest.Perhaps historical a significant film because of the person that's featuring in it, but from a more experimentally significant kind of view, this film doesn't add an awful lot.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

James M. Haugh Strongman Eugene Sandow made his motion picture debut in this film. The Edison organization - probably in the person of W.K.L. Dickson himself since he uses a quote from a book he wrote with his sister - was so proud of this fact that they printed up a Souvenir strip showing 12 stills from the movie and with the following description:"Observe that each picture has a slight change of position as it passes the point of vision. The rapid photographing of these different stages of movement at the rate of 46 to 50 a second or 2760 upon a long strip of light sensitive film creates the illusionary spectacle of moveable figures." From "The Life and Inventions of Edison - by Antonia and W.K.L. Dickson.