Mr Moon (1901)

1901
Silent
2m

Rare production footage of an early 'trick' film with a famous music hall performer.

This is test footage commissioned by performer Percy Honri to advertise his musical theatre show. Clearly the filmmakers are trying out this 'trick' shot where we see Honri 's face - made up as the man in the moon - poking through a blackout curtain, overlit so we can see the seams. The finished film exists separately, so we know this was test footage which would never have been used.

Test footage for the film Mister Moon commissioned by Percy Honri to advertise his musical theatre show. The Face of Percy Honri is seen poking through a blackout curtain - made up as the man in the moon. He makes faces then a puppet body is attched and manipulated from behind to give the impression of a man playing the banjo.

Fiction and Comedy

The other face of Edwardian local film specialists Mitchell and Kenyon.

For historian Rachael Low, writing in the 1950s, Mitchell and Kenyon was a minor film company, best known for some "faked topicals of the South African War". Thanks to the great 90s rediscovery, we now know that M&K’s specialty was non-fiction. But we also have more of their fiction than before: alongside the works presented here are some 80 more held elsewhere.

Alongside films recreating contemporary events, including the second Boer War and the 'Boxer rebellion' in China, are more straightforward short comedies and dramatic sketches. Together, they illustrate the kinds of entertainment enjoyed by British filmgoers around the turn of the 20th Century.