This little gem -- "Rescued by Rover", a 1905 film by Cecil Hepworth -- was posted to the HistoricKnitting list recently, because of the hap shawl the beggar woman is wearing in the very first scene. It is worth watching for that, although knitters might shed a tear over the ragged state of the shawl, but the whole thing is full of interesting details. It's obviously a little moral lesson on the evils of smoking and hanging about with soldiers, as well as the evils of drink, and more positively on the benefits of having a family dog.
I love that the father puts on his topper before dashing out to follow Rover --
Many of the details are hilarious now -- that the maid pulls the baby carriage instead of pushes it (because of course if she did it properly she would see the beggar-woman snatching the baby), that both the dog and the father completely ignore the nearby bridge and instead either swim or row across the stream -- but imagine how amazing this would have been in 1905, to people who had literally never seen a moving-picture. Apparently the film was so popular that not only did Hepworth (who played the father as well as directing) have to reshoot it twice because the negative actually wore out making so many copies, but it also started a trend for the name Rover for family dogs, and for canine movie stars such as Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. (I wonder if the Lassie directors ever saw this. "What is it, Lassie? Timmy fell down a well?!")
What fun - it might have been just too shocking to be seen hatless in public! I love the giant hat on the toddler outside the beggar woman's house,too.
Posted by: Mary Lou | January 23, 2012 at 05:24 AM