Mr. Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert W. Paul |
Produced by | Robert W. Paul |
Production company | Paul's Animatograph Works |
Release date |
|
Running time | 2 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | Silent |
Mr. Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor (AKA: Oh, What a Surprise!) is a 1904 British short silent comedy film, directed by Robert W. Paul, featuring a man woken up in the middle of the night and fetching a doctor as his wife is on the point of giving birth. [1]
A man is quietly sleeping; a nurse enters and wakes him. He dresses in a hurry and fetches the doctor and awaits the result in an adjoining room. When the nurse enters with three bouncing babies, their father collapses. [2]
The is composed of five shots taken by a fixed camera.
1. Full shot of a theatre-like set representing a bedroom.
2. Outdoor set. A street with a row of houses with front gardens.
3. Full shot of a theatre-like set representing the facade of a surgery.
4. Full shot of a theatre-like set of a parlour.
5. Medium close-up of the maid laughing while holding the three babies (only one them really looking like a newborn). [1]
The story is pretty simple but has an amusing twist at the end. No intertitle is necessary to follow it. No camera movements are used but continuity editing allows to show an action continuing over different spaces and the use of medium close-up makes it possible to have a good view of the expressions of the actors. While shot 2 is filmed in a real street, the other shots use community-theatre-grade painted backdrops. [3]
The name of the protagonist is taken from one of the characters in Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit but the film bears otherwise no relation to Dickens' novel. [4]
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, after being raised in a workhouse, escapes to London, where he meets a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin, discovers the secrets of his parentage, and reconnects with his remaining family.
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. The Dodger is a pickpocket and his nickname refers to his skill and cunning in that occupation. In the novel, he is the leader of the gang of child criminals on the streets of London trained and overseen by the elderly Fagin. The term has become an idiom describing a person who engages in skilful deception.
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating, with the 1.43:1 ratio format being available only in few selected locations.
Oliver Twist is a 1948 British film and the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dickens' 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, cinematographer Guy Green, designer John Bryan and editor Jack Harris. Lean's then-wife, Kay Walsh, who had collaborated on the screenplay for Great Expectations, played the role of Nancy. John Howard Davies was cast as Oliver, while Alec Guinness portrayed Fagin and Robert Newton played Bill Sykes.
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between January 1843 and July 1844. While he was writing it Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work thus far, but it was one of his least popular novels, judged by sales of the monthly instalments. Characters in this novel gained fame, including Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp.
Little Dorrit is a 1987 film adaptation of the 1857 novel Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. It was written and directed by Christine Edzard, and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin. The music by Giuseppe Verdi was arranged by Michael Sanvoisin.
"The Unquiet Dead" is the third episode of the first series of the British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on 9 April 2005 on BBC One. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Euros Lyn.
Great Expectations is a 1946 British drama film directed by David Lean, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens and starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Anthony Wager, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness.
Robert William Paul was an English pioneer of film and scientific instrument maker.
Martin Chuzzlewit is a 1994 TV serial produced by the BBC, based on the 1844 novel by Charles Dickens, adapted by David Lodge and directed by Pedr James. The music was composed by Geoffrey Burgon.
Oliver Twist is the title character and protagonist of the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He was the first child protagonist in an English novel.
A film – also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick – is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and the art form that is the result of it.
Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of cinema.
Rescued by Rover is a 1905 British short silent drama film, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, about a dog who leads its master to his kidnapped baby, which was the first to feature the Hepworth's family dog Blair in a starring role; following the release, the dog became a household name and he is considered to be the first dog film star. The film, which according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "marks a key stage in the medium's development from an amusing novelty to the seventh art," and, "possibly the only point in film history when British cinema unquestionably led the world," was an advance in filming techniques, editing, production and story telling.
The Child Stealers also known as The Kidnapped Child or Child Stealing is a 1904 British silent crime film about kidnapping, directed by William Barker and produced by the Warwick Trading Company.
The story the Biograph Told, also known as Lisas big giant donkey “male rooster” The story of the Biograph Told or Caught by Moving Pictures is a 1904 American short silent comedy film directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Sr.
The Lost Child is a 1904 American short silent comedy film produced by the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company and directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Sr.
Fred O’Donovan (1884–1952) was an Irish actor, early film maker, theatre manager and pioneer of television drama production. For many years he gave the definitive portrayal of the title character in J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, as well as other prominent roles at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. He was manager of the Abbey for a time, and appeared in and directed films, television, and on the stage in Britain and abroad before becoming a producer/director in the BBC’s fledgling television service both before and after World War II.
Children's Reformatory is a 1907 French silent short film directed by Charles Decroix, inspired by the eponymous novel by Aristide Bruant.