On the Roofs (1897)

Original title

Sur les toits

Directed by

Georges Méliès

Genre

comedy film, silent film, crime film

Country

France

Runtime

1 min

Rating

5.2 of 10 from 31 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two criminals are on a roof. A clumsy policeman tries to catch them. They move around the rooftop and escape capture.

playfulslapsticklightheartedbriskfarcechasecomic

What happens

On the Roofs (French: Sur les toits (cambrioleurs et gendarmes)) is an 1897 French short silent comedy film directed by Georges Méliès. The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 100 in its catalogues. The film features a bumbling policeman attempting to apprehend two criminals on the roof of an apartment building. "Every second of this," "highly successfully staged" "minute of film," according to Europa Film Treasues, "is used to construct the character's action and movements" and "made use of the theatre's three-dimensional decor," which "the competition quickly copied." The film was included in the Will Day collection bought by French Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux from collector Wilfrid Day in 1959 and preserved in the French Film Archives. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Poursuite sur les toits (1898)
• The Barber and the Farmer (1897)
• Rogues' Tricks (1907)
• The Policemen's Little Run (1907)
• Robert Macaire and Bertrand (1906)
• The School for Sons-in-law (1897)
• Between Calais and Dover (1897)
• L'auberge ensorcelée (1897)