Film · Britain · 1901
The Big Swallow
18Leave it.
He walks up and swallows the camera, and that joke is the whole film.
Take controlThis scores 18. The Big Swallow cannot be blocked by name on this shelf. The lock is the phone. Block it
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The review
The kids wanted to see a man eat the camera. James Williamson, 1901: he walks up, opens his mouth, and the camera goes in. A child can watch it. The joke is that the picture can be swallowed. I gave it the small laugh a trick earns, and then we were done.
It is a trick of address, aimed at the person in the seat. There is no second joke behind the swallow. If you are showing how a film can point at the watcher, this minute does that. Turn it off before anyone asks for a story.
Journal
Keep The Big Swallow in the record.
No house has filed a sentence for this yet.
Live Historic number 18. Yours can differ.
The glance
Industry and Household and Piety and Courage and Republic and Temperance and Truth and Stewardship are the thin ones.
Does anyone here do a real job, and does that job matter?
This phone is set for a grown person, just me. Change the ages.
Consider this
The Tramp
31 instead of 18
The Tramp is still a comedy film, and it scores 31 instead of 18. What you gain is industry: He works on a farm, then walks off, so the job is only a stop.
The eight
- 1Industry
No job is done; a man walks up and the camera goes in.
- 0Household
No parent, child, or marriage appears before the swallow.
- 1Piety
Nothing stops him; swallowing the picture is the whole point.
- 1Courage
He gives up nothing he would miss; the camera is the gag.
- 2Republic
The address is to the viewer, not to a neighbor or a law.
- 2Temperance
A mouth finishes the reel by swallowing it, and that is the gag.
- 4Truth
It keeps the joke: the picture can be swallowed, and then it is.
- 3Stewardship
What remains is a trick of address, a picture that got eaten.
Where to watch
Finding the page.
Live Historic · The Big Swallow · 18IMDb
