The Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken (1901)
- Directed by
- Edwin Stanton Porter
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1 min
- Rating
- 4.9 of 10 from 10 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
An unattractive older woman enters a photography studio for a portrait. Her appearance is so shocking that it destroys all the camera equipment.
absurdslapstickcomedicfast-pacedplayfulsillyphysical humor
What happens
The Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken is a 1901 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter in collaboration with George S. Fleming. The comic film depicts an unattractive old woman (played by celebrated vaudeville female impersonator Gilbert Saroni) arriving at a photo studio to have her picture taken, and destroying all of the equipment through the power of her ugliness. The film exhibitor could pair this film with another 1901 Porter film, The Old Maid in the Drawing Room (also known as The Old Maid in the Horsecar), which was simply a shot of Saroni as the old maid, talking excitedly and making funny facial expressions. According to Charles Musser in Before the Nickelodeon, "It was suggested that the old maid was busy talking about her adventures at the photo gallery. Thus, if the exhibitor desired, he could combine these two single-shot films to create a more elaborate subject." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Republicans, Get in My Vagina (2012)
The Invisible Woman (1983)
Beware Spooks! (1939)
There's No Fish Food in Heaven (1998)
Hijacking Hollywood (1997)
Darla in Space (2024)
She Gets Her Man (1945)
Margie (1940)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.