The Twins' Tea Party (1896)

Directed by

Robert W. Paul

Genre

silent film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1 min

Rating

5.0 of 10 from 13 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two infant girls sit at a table and reluctantly share tea. The film captures their simple reactions in a single shot.

simpleshortcharmingeverydaylightnoveltywhimsical

What happens

The Twins' Tea Party is an 1896 British short silent actuality film, produced and directed by Robert W. Paul. The film "was one of the very first 'facials'," which according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline was "a popular genre in early British cinema that exploited what to 1896 audiences was the astonishing novelty of being able to see moving images of recognisable people in medium close-up as they reacted to a particular situation." John Barnes, author of The Beginnings of the Cinema in England, adds that "this charming one-shot film of two infant girls reluctantly sharing tea was one of the most popular items exhibited in R.W. Paul's programmes at the Alhambra Theatre in 1896." The film was remade in 1898, and distributed under the title Tea: The Twins' Tea Party. This version was promoted as "an improved edition of the favourite Twins' Tea Party." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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