He_who_lurks This early Edison short was probably very entertaining at the time of its release, as instead of a simple performance of a dancer or an athlete performing we get a rather comic scene showing a guy getting shaved. While not at all impressive today (many people now will just think "a guy getting a shave--so what?") it is interesting as it is a form of early advertising.While many people think the later Edison film "Dewars-It's Scotch" is the first true advertising film (so did I for a while), I believe this is truly the first. This is because at the time a shave and a haircut was very popular and was the most recent fad. People could get both for a nickel. So Edison, who wants to cash in on money, decides to advertise this new great wonder by making a short film about it. And not only does this film advertise, it also amuses--and isn't that what we do to grab people's attention today? It is indeed. "Dewars-It's Scotch" doesn't do that. It is an advertising film, but it doesn't really amuse, it just outright says "Buy it, buy it, BUY IT! Thanks for watching." The advertising in it is pretty clear--there's a sign and everything. And the scene does amuse somewhat. I'll bet you after seeing this the men in the audiences were like "Whoa, that's too great a deal to pass up! To the barbershop!" While it's easy to see it was made in a studio, the idea is still there. And today I suppose you could call it more interesting than seeing a baby being fed. Entertaining but more interesting for the fact that it is an unrecognized advertising film--and maybe the first.(Note: On Kino's "Movies Begin" set the film is played twice in a row for some reason. I had no idea until I read the review by someguy. It's only twenty secs though so it's still no waste of time).

kobe1413 Edison innovators W.K.L. Dickson and William Heise made this short showing a slice of life from end of the nineteenth century. A man is getting a shave at a barbershop, while two other men discuss something in the foreground.This was the best Edison film up to that point, as it feels almost like a still-life coming alive. Viewers come that time must have felt like they were watching a scene familiar to them come alive. One thing I am curious about is whether the men acting out the short scene are just Edison men fooling around, or whether they are hired actors performing a scene laid out for them.I give it a 2 out of 10.

Snow Leopard This simple footage of "The Barbershop" is pleasant to watch, and like many other features of its time, it preserves forever a view of a once-familiar scene. In itself, the action is nothing exciting, but the camera is positioned well, and for such a short running time it does capture many details. Like a carefully composed still picture, it presents every aspect of the scene, while in this case showing you the complete action of the doings that it depicts.Originally, the film-makers set out to capture a scene that their audiences would have observed every day. But, like a number of movies of its era, it now allows us to get a more intimate view of ways of life that are no longer common to our experience – in this case, to feel what it was like to visit an old-fashioned barber shop of the era. The footage does well in conveying this feel, capturing not only the man getting a shave, but also the leisurely interactions in the foreground – an efficient and well-conceived piece of cinematography.The double footage may seem like something of an odd idea, but it would be interesting to know how many of its original viewers noticed it. And, beyond that, we are quite fortunate that the earliest film-makers had such a spirit of experimentation, and that they were so willing to try even offbeat ideas. Early efforts such as this, as plain as it may now look to some viewers, did more than their part in getting cinema history moving.

tedg The history of anything involves trying to discover the accidents of convention that stuck. Movies could have taken off from any of a number of the already mature arts: especially painting. It turned out — much the worse I fear — to have adjusted to become a continuation of drama, probably starting in earnest with "Birth of a Nation."But here we have a very early film, an experiment really, that shows one link that continues today, the link with dance.I'm particularly fond of modern films that reconnect with the notions of dance — especially the dancing eye of the camera — whether they have explicit dancing in them.This is framed as a contemporary photograph, which means it inherits the painterly conventions of composition of the time. But see how well the motion is planned in two layers: a foreground and background. This comes from the dance tradition, especially the choreography of the day.And it has stuck with us all this time as a basic rule. Pretty interesting, that. And accidental too, I surmise.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.