The Acrobatic Fly (1910)

Directed by

F. Percy Smith

Genre

documentary film, silent film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

2 min

Rating

6.1 of 10 from 7 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A close-up film shows a housefly that is tied to a match head while it moves objects with its feet. It was made by F. Percy Smith in 1910 and is similar to a longer sequence he made the following year.

curiousobservationalintimatefocusedslowold-fashionededucationalquietfascinating

What happens

The Acrobatic Fly (also known as The Balancing Bluebottle) is a 1910 British short silent documentary film, directed by F. Percy Smith, featuring close-ups of a housefly secured to the head of a match and juggling objects with its feet. The film, "is one of a series of Smith films on similar subjects around this time," and according to Mark Duguid of the BFI is, "near identical to, though briefer than, a sequence in his 1911 release The Strength and Agility of Insects." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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• Spiders on a Web (1900)
• Trip Through the North of England (1910)
• Mosquinha (1905)
• The King's Procession Around London (1902)
• Embroidery Extraordinary (1910)
• To Demonstrate How Spiders Fly (1909)
• The Fresh Air Fiend (1910)