Athlete with Wand (1894)

Excellent but underrated film

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.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Blistering performances.

Notice I didn't say athlete. That's because this guy here really isn't an athlete. None of what he's doing is fascinating or remarkable in any way. All he's doing is assuming a lot of positions while holding a wand. But, as uninteresting as this film is, there's a bit of humor as well. A dog is sleeping at the side of the screen and at the end lifts his/her head, wondering how much more boring the guy could get. Slightly dull but remember you're seeing a film from over a hundred years ago. This isn't to be sneezed at despite the fact that the Edison Company made more interesting film. Not watchable by today's standards but film buffs should see it because of the historical significance.

Another very early short by William Dickson, in his mid-30s at this point, shows an athlete wearing a white skirt and long pants showing us a couple tricks with his wand. If this was a Méliès film, the wand would have spat out a couple rabbits or stars or something else magical. But this is really just a sports presentation, one of the earliest sports documentaries ever. It's not particularly engaging and I wouldn't recommend it. Even at 45 seconds, it almost feels a bit repetitive. Worst thing about it is the poor fella didn't even get his name in the title like many other athletes or dancers from these Dickson showcase films from the late 19th century.

. . . and they do it with some attitude. Unlike the feline title characters who sell out for second billing in a later short from the Edison Manufacturing Company--PROF. WELTON'S BOXING CATS--the dog who graces ATHLETE WITH WAND (pay close attention to the lower right of the screen) proves why his kind are considered "man's best friend" decades before LASSIE ever filled the nickelodeon. At first this principled canine (who would not allow his name to appear in the final credits) looks at his alleged "athlete" co-star thinking "this guy is CRAZY!" as the Newark "gymnast" mugs for the camera. This dog obviously has the breeding to know the rough outlines of what male gymnasts would be doing in the Olympics (rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, floor exercise and such), which is why he virtually ignores the poser taking center stage here. "You won't win a gold medal for dancing with a yardstick, Mac!" the dog certainly is thinking, as he turns his head away in disgust. All I can add is, Good call, Fido! Too bad the clown with a "wand" did not pick up on your training cues.

The athlete shows some great flexibility here! ...Seriously what is this guy doing? It looks ridicules. He is simply flexing his arms and legs in different positions while constantly holding a wand in his both hands. Of course they simply wanted to test as many movements as possible to see what the possibilities were, the do's and don't's and how it all looked on film.Interestinly there is also a dog lying in the corner, presumably also as part of the experiment to see how secondary objects, persons, other things or in this case a dog would look on the corner of the camera field. The dog also looked as if he/she was trying to figure out what this athlete was exactly doing, but he/she mostly didn't bothered with him and simply choose to relax a bit. I sympathize for him/her.For an early Edison Manufacturing Company film it's quite long. It's over 30 seconds long. And all shows that Edison and Co. were all making progress at the point.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/