Lizars, Edinburgh (1904)

Edinburgh
1904
Silent
1m

An Edwardian comedian is captured on camera - but who is he?

Mitchell and Kenyon were commissioned to film this unidentified comedian by Lizars' Imperial Bioscope of Edinburgh, presumably to promote a live show (see also Mr Moon). Although the performer's name has not been recorded, he must have been famous enough to be recognisable to the film audience. His comic act here is to enact half of a gossipy phone conversation dressed as a Rajah.

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.