Mr. Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor (AKA: Oh, What a Surprise!) is a 1904Britishshortsilentcomedy film, directed by Robert W. Paul, featuring a man woken up in the middle of the night and fetching a doctor as his wife is on the point of giving birth.[1]
A man is quietly sleeping; a nurse enters and wakes him. He dresses in a hurry and fetches the doctor and awaits the result in an adjoining room. When the nurse enters with three bouncing babies, their father collapses.[2]
Analysisedit
The is composed of five shots taken by a fixed camera.
1. Full shot of a theatre-like set representing a bedroom.
2. Outdoor set. A street with a row of houses with front gardens.
3. Full shot of a theatre-like set representing the facade of a surgery.
Screenshot from the film
4. Full shot of a theatre-like set of a parlour.
5. Medium close-up of the maid laughing while holding the three babies (only one them really looking like a newborn).[1]
The story is pretty simple but has an amusing twist at the end. No intertitle is necessary to follow it. No camera movements are used but continuity editing allows to show an action continuing over different spaces and the use of medium close-up makes it possible to have a good view of the expressions of the actors. While shot 2 is filmed in a real street, the other shots use community-theatre-grade painted backdrops.[3]
The name of the protagonist is taken from one of the characters in Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit but the film bears otherwise no relation to Dickens' novel.[4]
Referencesedit
^ abReview and link to watch the film: "A cinema history". Retrieved 17 November 2020.
Mr. Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor (1904) at A Cinema History
January 01, 1970
pecksniff, fetches, doctor, what, surprise, 1904, british, short, silent, comedy, film, directed, robert, paul, featuring, woken, middle, night, fetching, doctor, wife, point, giving, birth, screenshot, from, filmdirected, byrobert, paulproduced, byrobert, pau. Mr Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor AKA Oh What a Surprise is a 1904 British short silent comedy film directed by Robert W Paul featuring a man woken up in the middle of the night and fetching a doctor as his wife is on the point of giving birth 1 Mr Pecksniff Fetches the DoctorScreenshot from the filmDirected byRobert W PaulProduced byRobert W PaulProductioncompanyPaul s Animatograph WorksRelease date1904 1904 Running time2 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageSilent Contents 1 Plot 2 Analysis 3 References 4 External linksPlot editA man is quietly sleeping a nurse enters and wakes him He dresses in a hurry and fetches the doctor and awaits the result in an adjoining room When the nurse enters with three bouncing babies their father collapses 2 Analysis editThe is composed of five shots taken by a fixed camera 1 Full shot of a theatre like set representing a bedroom 2 Outdoor set A street with a row of houses with front gardens 3 Full shot of a theatre like set representing the facade of a surgery nbsp Screenshot from the film 4 Full shot of a theatre like set of a parlour 5 Medium close up of the maid laughing while holding the three babies only one them really looking like a newborn 1 The story is pretty simple but has an amusing twist at the end No intertitle is necessary to follow it No camera movements are used but continuity editing allows to show an action continuing over different spaces and the use of medium close up makes it possible to have a good view of the expressions of the actors While shot 2 is filmed in a real street the other shots use community theatre grade painted backdrops 3 The name of the protagonist is taken from one of the characters in Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit but the film bears otherwise no relation to Dickens novel 4 References edit a b Review and link to watch the film A cinema history Retrieved 17 November 2020 BFI Screenonline Retrieved 17 November 2020 Letterboxd Retrieved 17 November 2020 Norman Page A Dickens Companion Springer 1984 p 322External links editMr Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor 1904 at IMDb nbsp Mr Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor 1904 at A Cinema History Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mr Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor amp oldid 1190973360, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
