- 231
EROTIC TENDENCIES IN run, lgnn-ion* John Hägen
One of the main attractions at the ion-, r ,
was the unveiling of Thomas Edison's KW^™"3" Exposltion in Chi«9° could show a film with a maximum Jengtn of about' „? °achin8
On April 14,
followed two weeks later tav «hnf"Z'"'u'La'1" u8DUt 10 Neu Vork*   Thls euent was against a film, the work £ question EE ^ ^ reCOrdBd pr°teBt
DANCE.    This film, which tint      tn „ t L d"°n 3 O0LORITft IN ™* pflSSION
machines at AtlenUc CUy"B Boardwalk   L   ° J°h T*" pBBp-show « North Afriran H3r,r-= . u- ! " "dMlk' consisted of an Americanized version of a North African dance which had been popular at the Columbian Exposition.
Mont nrpn^tinn11°UG(\ S°°n aft*™"*s, a pantomime of a bride's wedding night preparations was closed by order of a New York judge who denounced it as an   outrage upon public decency."   Senator Bradley of New Jersey expressed shock at a film in which the Spanish dancer Carmencita revealed her ankles. The proprietor of the New 3ersey parlor in which the film was being shown was ordered to replace it immediately with something more suitable. Similerly, the owner of the Kinetoscope parlor on the Boardwalk was asked by legal authorities not to show the film of Oolorita's dance.   In light of this, he cancelled orders from the Kinetoscope Company for films of a similar nature.
Some officials found the erotic elements of these pictures to be only one indication of their general vulgarity and attempted to stop the burgeoning film industry altogether.   In 1895, thB Mayor of New York tried to shut all nickelodeons as immoral pieces of amusement and in this and other states heavy license fees were cherged in the attempt to curb the growth of the movies Tnese large-scale attempts did not prove very effective and action against particular films continued.   A film of Fatima, another "exotic dancer" who had appeared at the Columbian Exposition, fell victim to the whinm of a censor who placed a etencil - - which, in the felicitous words of Knight and Alpert,
"resembled two New England fences"--over the offending portions of the
dancer's anatomy.*
The Edison studio wss not above exploiting the erotic naturB of Oolorita's dance.   A Kinetoscope exhibitor, looking for s film suited to the tsstes of his copper town sudience, received this reply to sn inquiry in 1896: "We are confident that thB Dolorita PASSION DANCE would be as exciting as you desire. In fact, we will not show it in our parlor.   You speak of the class of trade which wants somsthing of this chsracter.   We think this "^"J* ™«
your purposes.    A man in Buffalo has one of these films and informs us that he fp.quSntly has forty or fifty men waiting in line to see it.   We do not send out films for inspection."2
j« ne Hohut in Aoril 1896, was considered an Edison's ^tascope   which made it ^   u ^ c^y pr0JBctBd figure3 upon a
improvement ««« Jhe Kin.t°9J°pB " ffl0uieg ghowBd what may have been the
screen.    One of the «^ J*™8™?.'    tnen a nlt on Broadway, had as a high-screen's first kiss.   THE WIDOW JONES, then ^ ^ ^ light a prolonged kiss between the actors nay
- 2'2 -
- 235 _
h t     nhed on fifty fMt of film end releeaed under tho titit dTt! S* llui-'r-S C. RICC KISS.   However, when the film r.eched ChlC8Qe in lu^UI    ».r .art S. Ston., publi.h.r of th.   it.r.ry m.geiin. THE CHAP p   k    n ,    f r„.au.te to denounce itl "Now I want to .ma.h th. VITASCOPr. Th. MM of th. thing i. in itifif ■ horror.   It. -or.. ...Whole scene, .r. .n«ct.d on th. .cr..n.   la Loie LLole ^""J dencee, .iNv.tnd train, com and go, and th. whole thing ia...a pr.tty toy for th.t oraat child, th. public ...When only lif. ail., it [th. Irwin-Rice .tag. .moreee] was pronouncd b.astly ...Magnified to C.rg.ntuan proportion, and r.p.at.d thra. tin., over, it i. .b.oJut.ly di.gu.ting ...Th. immorality 0f living pictur.a .nd bronta atatua. ia nothing to thia."
In apaaklng or "living pictur.a," Ston. la r.f.rrlng to th. .tag. tableaux which wara by than common in tha thaatra in both America and Europe. Throughout the nineteenth century In London, deepite censorship and licensing lawa, there axiatad muaic hall apectaclaa known aa "poaea plaatiquea," "tabls.ux uivsnts," or "Living Statuary" in which girla in rnvnuling tight, poaad for auch depiction, a. NYMPHS BATHING or OIANA THE HUNTRESS. In Amur lea, aa far back a. th. Civil Unr period, troupoa of models appeared in Living Picture, at N.w Vork thaatra. on program, with vocalists and minstrel acta,   neny aarly Trench film., in which attrnctlve girle poaad in tableaux «era lnaplred in part by the tableeux vlvsnts popular In Trench casino, and' music halls.   Am.picsn movie, of this period war. aleo influenced by tha tableeux vlvente and American nawepopnro contained comparleona between the motion picture and the Living Pictures.
"any of tha erotic sspscts of eerly cinema could be found previously in eome
c»e. wiri !ti«d In uhfr'i  r    ?- " ?"tMnth ™**V> c-ric.turoa of divorce h" clllld unonQS irr       ,/B ali wUnB"°»- u»"«Hy comic. In drag, would tlatimo^ to I     k       •vidsncs.   Thoy would then present their eal.ciou.
S rS^J £2 IT «V«. the platform would
comedy, thaaa nuppar eluJa Jorl.d tZ lllilTr' , ^ WUh b«*W IB^Os  .nd »00..   In rw.   p??k*      ! ' *   f EnQllih m^ halls of tha film, during tn. l..t IZVaf   hf E2E*£ "n.id.rabl. number of erotic in peintlng., plciur. °NfaUil,"t?"n"\c«"*wv which had th.ir origina
include .cen.. of -omr^aa.inn /U8iC.hn11 P""1™1"". Th.aa film, ethical or hiaioriSTfiSl!! J1L ' ^ t8blBmj>< °r uom«" POBing aa cinsma draw it. SJSJ [Z „ 1 llT*0'   "f^elity.   Tho onrlyP flme?ican
own u.udeville tradition hB9e French filma and from ite
emu.am.nt. ,. the minstrel w*u    h.    "tlon of 9Uch eatabliehed American Vaudeville, .. .ci.ctlc „ n ^/J" ond       traveling player troupee.
•ntertainment snsctsd by p.rfaZ*     '^fi cor,8l«ted of diuerae forme of enort .mount of time ni,nUofJ tn 1! "M"-TU^ pr8Bent a "utin. within the «P dly batussn 1870 ,nd 1915.   CoTlZ '   II! AmBric8' ^deville grew *oon\T """M* ^at themoUon Pic u?B      'ClBCtic naturB °F vaudeville.
•°°n beC^ vaudeville Jroora"    V V™' 8nd to th8 P°int " "
Programs.   3uBt ae the firat Kinetoscopea
had included vaudeville performer- n- tl include th. movi.a.3   A, if "nl!f8! 8i|bJect9. »
nr
audeville aoan began to
nd the hetero—
early but instead and drama: 633 concerns.
for my purpoaaa,  I youlrj define th- .mH i uhich explicitly or implicitl?***! Jill    Ble"1fl^ts in f" elements cen teUe se.e^al fo L !Lv l™*l™T*m
m es those elements appeal. Such
to critics the
as a popular art -- that
u:/: S* :hiS rBfi8Ct^/n «V,bolic forms ^n^7*7 lik. a dream, the aubcontcious sexual and social beliefs of the masses.* This typo of analysis might be kept in mind uhen looking at the early films under consideration here, even the moat innocent of them, with their reams of suggestive imagery: the depiction, for instance, of innocent but seductive young girls; or of women who are magically transformed or dismembered.
Considert for example, the possible significance of the robbBr as a sexual
bandit--''stealing1' a man's wife in A F10DERN SAPPHO or hiding beneath the
bed of young girla in THt GIRLS, THE BURGLAR AND THE RAT. These films haue a certain erotic quality which is absent from more explicit films since, by not making eroticism explicit, they unconsciously suggest its ambiguity and secrecy,
I do not mean to suggest, by the uay, that the film routines, often based on stage routinee, in which erotic elementa appear are used only in relation to women.    Hen, as well as women, are senn being dismembered or eyed by huge insects or with their clothes askew.   In these instancss, it is the manner in which the routine is presented which ia pertinent; the particular "allure" which characterizes most of the women aa opposed to the men.
There are a number of ways in the early cinema in which women are depicted
in what might be said to be a sensual manner.   For instance, young women are
shown as beino essentially innocent but naughty and viv/acious: enjoying a
honSa   ewa   ?rom academic regimentation (BOARDING SCHOOL GIRLS, "ison 1905); g.gg-
lingly    posing Tor a porhapa deceptively genteel man with a camera (TOO HUCH
JOHNSON   1000)5; attacking, epiritadly and without any real jam. of outrage,
a man hiding under their oed but than losing their courege when they see a
rat (THE GIRLS, THE BURGLAR AND THE RAT, 1905).
UNPROTECTED EEBAIE. 190J, TH   EIRE BUG - ^ ^ ^ BR0EBT
time of adulterous love afraire.   in affair with another woman.
LOVERS (1903), a wife finde h« i^abandhav affair^ ^ .
In THOSE WEDDING BELLS SHALL NOT RING OUT U_ jh ^ tnfl fath„ of
arrives at a wedding end ahoota tne gr      hiqemist ia brought to court end her child.   On the li9^er aide, when tne    g  ^ ^ ^
prosecuted in THE BIGAMIST'S "J"^1'   'haplBS3, oft-times married husband.
delight while the ^«^"2 tSe RAT and many other films, morality As in THE GIRLS, THE BURGLAR ANU int
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- lib -
threat to the virtus of women,
and mischief «fllMC" ^ThM^        P19^1 h8nd* justice is administered with a heavy
In A C10DERN SAPPHO (1905), a woman i Some women are actually lxCBn:""a,thBlr home when they are interrupted b kissing her husband in the naii then carriB9 the dBlighted wife
. hnrnlar who asssults the nusoano a fortune teller nn
a burglar who assaults the Ju»Ja"d/fSu5)'"women*visit a fortune teller and, upstairs.    In THE SOCIETY »<1905        ^ ?)> ^ ^.^ ^
after they pay him (is this a ruse nd fl curtain.    In ROms FOR
them until his irate wife Jumpsou man,s ^ by hiding herself
GENTLEMEN ONLY (1905;, a woman -"        .„^fua.    For GXamol
e, in
„.ly against him    She then »"» ^        J° ^ ;
prodding the audience with J jjjjf"^^ 3 ^ra?ity .hich was frequently contemptuous of traditional morality        * n pnruri no 1 c n at
personified by the Salvation Army.    In SOUBRETTES IN A BACHELOR 5 FLAT (1900), a young woman mockingly dresses as a Salvation Army member; m BLESSING FROn ABOVE (1904), e Salvation Army woman is hit with flour. One finds a similar situation in THE CHORUS GIRL AND THE SALVATION ARMY LASSIE (1904).7
The female characters in these movies are often completely unaware of their mildly, and often amusingly, erotic actions-   Tor instance, in THE SLEEPY 50UBRETTE (1905), a girl's legs are slowly revealed as she moves in her sleep.   Some women seem unaware of the erotic aspects of their otherwise practical behavior: the tightrope walker who removes her clothes to balance herself better in THE STRENUOUS LIFE (1904); the woman in ATHLETIC GIRL AND THE BURGLAR (1905) who takes off her dress in order to exercise; the woman in HUST BE IN BED BEFORE 10 (1903) who undresses before retiring for the night.   On the other hand, some characters seem aware of not only their actions, but of the audience as well.   The woman who looks into the camera as she removes her clothes in FR0P1 SHOWGIRL TO BURLESQUE QUEEN (1905) in effect acknowledges the voyeuristic response of the audience.
Sr^r^ iR SUch ,rk0yhole Ulnis" as THROUGH THE KEYHOLE IN
THE UR0NG RATH wnnsr fi^anlIN ™E °RESS™G R°°* (1905) «"d ^ ^NT INTO
™Ss.?     0 l/b^^^";:!^-"2^'! ^ °f thie "9en"n
keyholes of V Uritlsn fllm m which a man looking through the
aX?:„ r."0r ™ ziiT* Pi? 'sr: °t rx? ™an dressed in fe»°ie
been a staple of nnrn!    u?    ? 9'     he keYnole film, of course, has long
listed above is   tl out" U   n £ the er0tic aPPaal <* films
herd-core fare!       P ldly' con8ida™bly different than it ie in more
aojec"' especillirwomen" ^'^^tic attention paid to certein
in IT'S A 5HAME TO TAKE THE MONEY ( SnO u timeS acknowledge this, as policemen end a ahoeehine bov oettfnn *   T he action centers around a
Pictures, though, one finde Drover-M    i       . Bt 8 w°man's legs.    In other fashion end incidentel to JhS olTt    ^WX™ l89B introduced in a sly the 1099 of the bride-to-be are seen IU1 WH° 0IDN'T EL0PE (1904),
seen kicking wildly ae ahe is traneported from
the site of her thwarted attempt to al
(1905), an actress' understudy (it mi ™E PRinA D0NNA UNOERSTUDY
kicking after she hes been discovered hp 7°"      h-r moid) ia carrUd ouay psychoenelytic and mythopoeic critic m      "9 on tne star's stockings. A that in eech of these films a woman j!' d«ing than myself might propose movements after having been frustrated i 8ly aimulates orgasmic
--in one case, the pleasure of a hn    "   " attemPt to gain erotic pleeaura
wearing exotic end forbidden garment°"9ym°0n; in tha other, the pleasure of
In each of these two films, an emnhnat. < ,
the extent thet they come to seem P   "d Up°n thB u,omQn'» le9" to
This is mode explicit in other uorks in JSE?*' * 8 PBrS°°-
objects. In such films as FOUrTaSt ?ufvTihTT EG I^uSi^T^sSuCKiSg 5TDCKINGS (1904) and 2 A.CI. in THE SUBWAY i \        (1904), the SHOCKING
the fact that the attractive pair9 0f ™ ! V*   X 1°*°* ar0Und .
nf,piol nn_D B11„K „   .7     paira or woman'a legs that we see ere, in fact, artificial ones such ee those found in clothing stores for display purpose. One occasionally even comes across undsrgsrmsnts exhibited in a dramatic
f-f"13! f-Ve SBen dona laaa f" atmospheric purposes then to provide a little titillation for the viewer - - considsr, for instance, the peir of stockings which hangs prominently but gratuitously upon the clotheeline in THE STRENUOUS LIFE (1904).
Trick effBcts were often used to display women in an erotic fsehion: the merging of several women into one in a number of PIslifeB' films as well as in THREE GIRLS INTO ONE and PIERROT'S PR0BLEP1 (1900), to cite e few examplBsj conversely, the "dismentling" Df a woman in THE WAY TO SELL CORSETS (190A) in which, when the women suddenly becomes a mannequin, she is tsken epart and her clothes removed; the evocation of a beautiful woman by an opium user in TOUR DE O0NDE DE POL ICIER (Pathe, 1905)) s nude ssductress' treneformation into a skeleton in TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTHONY (1900; perhepe besed on flunks' similar 1898 film).   In all of these filmB, "magic" is used to touch upon the mystique of women: multiplying or dissecting their allure; tranaformlng them into seneual fantasies or herbingers of misery.
It is curious how films made on the seme set, end around the seme theme, treat Broticiam differently.   For instance, the same bathhouse serves ea tha site for various kinds of mildly erotic mieadventures in A POOR PLACE [OR LOVE MAKING, ON THE BEACH AT BRIGHTON and HE WENT INTO THE WRONG BATH HOUSE (ell 1905).    In a crude way, these films msds on the same est utilize, through variations on the seme beeic plot, the tinge of eroticism, end JhjBnnju.l aura which characterize a place like e bathhouse.   Or conoid.   A J™} SAPPHO, POHPEY'S HONEY GIRL -d MOVE'S PE J U »0   ; ha ^
use the earne eet   which provi e on. ctar.otor      . ^ ^
the background while another character e e 9p0Cially Although the plot changee from f iljto unicn CBnter- atound
designed two-area eet in order to develop a narrative w
eexual infidelity.
nn. riav and with the same ectora, involve Three other 1905 film., all mada on 00a° teasinG, a man Is seen edvencing variations on the theme of 9*du^°n\ b8CK aB she flirtatiously teasaa
towardB a women on a oouch, pulling nai        ^ ALWAYS ROOD for ONE MORE, him; he finally gives h.r a lingering
- 236
- 237 -
u      -nMallv the same actions but this time on the ..me actora go through .... J   ^ ^ fchBy t th-i ^
a chair and. in UNLUCKY   TtJJ thrM Blightiy rieque picture,
behavior while aitting on a table, attempt of both typaa
r...*ble th. ""'"J* ^2^.^« «tio.....» unique by very^
t^TJar^MK upon which, .uch .tactions era
roanifeated.
».<■       j.      th« nflme set and around the same theme - m Sometimes, how.v.r, fll-. • «* on tj. same se ^ ?
instance" S « (R i» to have been made only to di.pl.y eome t.nt-lUino of a woman, -Ml. COMMITTEE ON ART U.ae the a.m. po.t.r., thi.
?or ourooaea of tant.lization but rath.r to .how the mor.1 outrag. SS^rJI bVthe poatara.   Comparably, in SAILORS ASHORE (1904     girl. ar8 carried through the windows of e building for an obvioualy laecivioua purpoaa while, in A FIRE IN A BURLESQUE THEATRE, squally r.unchy glrle are carried through the same windows but this time for a more honorable, even nobl., reason: they are being reacued.
Erotic films at times resemble other filma which are not erotic.   For in.tanca, Edison's 1902 BURLESQUE SUICIDE ia a cloee shot of a rotund man taking . drink, then pretending to kill himeelf, and finelly pointing et the cemera end laughing.   In a similar film, THE WINE OPENER (1905), th. viewer 1. not th. tutt of a joke this time but rather the object of e flirtation! the film con.iatt of a close shot of a laughing woman, her dress slipping off her shoulder, looking into the camera as she opens a bottle and then drinke wine. Both pictures would seen to fell into that category of film known ea the facial. In her history of British cinema, Rechel Low observes that filmmaker, began to use close-ups in th. late 1890s in the production of "facials".    In theee films, which were based on vsudeville routines, an actor with a comical expression would be seen in a tight shot doing something amuaing.
The close-up was a device used many time, to increaee the erotic quality of a film.   Besides the examples already noted, one might mention THE TROUBLES0PIE FLY (1903) which consists entirely of a close-up of a woman's feet with a fly hovering over them; or A PIPE DREAM (ig05) in which a woman in cloee-up smokes a cigarette (opium?) and then, aa she smile, aeductivaly, imaginee that ah. la holding a passionate young men in her hend.   At one point, she looke into tne cemere - - as if making the audience conapiretora in her neughty fantaay.
I5JanJa°QT?hPeainlH01de2 ! *T* "y fich eatl* filma C™1« display to full SESJtte SCEnT   9u,       na^htin««) of the eilhou.tt..   For inatance, in inside the hnule ill V* 1^°™" atantli^ b«*°" her home aaea her hueband a silhouette    8 aean il   ,° ^ SMnd 8 "lndott 9hade"   Thi* *houn aa
houett   w8  hV h   w no wCthr0U* 8 Mth« ™k™« « «■ ail-
.™ ' f^tH1 1 ^J*:' d"";j1?"11y »*» th° to increase the
to a long-ahot of hi. k ^h. "ViTl* J** her .hoe; the film then cute position from a long to cloee ill   I**' th" 8Uddan change in camera
.»«0 mu.  th. ch8tacr.°: ^rz\iTjiToizir^T.inten"
Li
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
FOOTNOTES
Thn erotic appeal of the dancer ai
filma of th. period.   One or "a mn.t K 9°°d in many actional
ANIMATED PICTURE STUDIO (l903^alnce«r**i "triCk fUm"
the film ia Isadora DuncanHowav.r   I onT K"!"? that d8nC"
™« nf th. nrfnin.1 n nowever, I once attended a showing during which
Zl baino nrnlJcJ-i Dun,Caf\ Dan«r" approached the ecreen a. tne film
ZL. i™r«M™ Bt!ndln9 "yB t0 "V with the tiny image of th. dancer,
began protesting vociferously that "No! No! It'B Not Herl"
A compareble fixture of propriety and prurience can be found in the Biogrsph Bulletin for LIFTING THE LIO (1905), in which it is stated that the film la "aomawhat spicy, but is unobjectionable in every way..."   See Kamp Niver'a BIOCRAPH BULLETINS 1B96-1908 (Loe Angeles: Locara Reeeerch Group, 1971).
The factual information found in thia paper has been compiled largely from the eourcee lieted in the Bibliography.   Aa regards sroticiam in asrly cinema, several of these Bourcee also contain a good deal of information which fall beyond the ecope of thia paper.
Among Tyler'e writinga, see particularly THE H0LLYU00D HALLUCINATION (New Yorkt Simon end Schuster, 1944).   Note also Stan Brakhage's discussion of how Meliee "drew upon the whole mythic history of womsn," which can be found in Brakhage's riLn BIOGRAPHIES (Berkeley: Turtle Ieland, 1977).
On. finds thia same combinetion of innocence and flirtstious naughtiness In the behavior of young girls being photographed for the norj-fictional early film BRIGHTON SCENES AT AMUSEMENT PARK.
Many of the filme mentioned in thia paper ere not being shown at thB FIAF conference since they are of little conaequence except aa "^J"""" of car" tain points which I wish to rsise.   Except where noted, all of the films mentioned in thia paper were msde at Olograph.   Unlees otherwise indicated,
H-t« .bourn ere the years of both production snd copyright except for the BlUrZ flSTcSrSl- in 1902, in *ich ces. the film, may have been made earlier,
t      &i       fHai rhflrflctar of the hedonistic monk
Tr.dition.l MtMjr -«        » '[    "(     ^„T"m .»0 SONG (»05).
- - see. for inatance, THE 5inHLL lul /
250 -
- 239 -
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Elton» John»   EROTIC THEATRE (Heut York* Taplinger, 1973). Hammond, Paul.   MARVELLOUS fILLIES (New Yorki St. Martin's Proaa, 1975). Hendricka, Cordon,   ORIGINS OF THE! AMERICAN FI LH (Neu York* Arno Preee, 1972), Sab particularly THE KINETOSCOPE book in this volume.
Knight, Arthur and Mollis Alpert, "The History of Sex in the Cinema--
Part 1, The Original Sin."   PLAYBOY, April 1965. Kyrou, Ado.   AM0UR-ERQTI5ME   CT CINEMA (Paris: Lg Terrain Vague, 1957), Lou, Rachel and Rogor Manvall.    THE HISTORY nf THE BRITISH flLPI, 1896-1906
(Ueta York:   R.R. Bowkar. 1948). flcLean, 3r.B Albert P. AMERICAN VAUDEVILLE AS RITUAL (Kentucky! University of
Kentucky Press, 196^). Ramaaye, Terry.   A MILLION AND ONE NIGHTS (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1926) Randall, Richard 5. CENSORSHIP OF THE MOVIES (Madison: University of WieconaJn Press, 1968). n Sklar, Robert.   MOVIE-MADE AMERICA (New York: Vintage Booka, 1975).
SIMULTANEOUS AHTrnM t„ p||f1| n)...........
."John Hagen - USA
The early cinema employed a numb
a very baeic level, this could involL 25 °* 8ln,ult«neous action. On actione taking place at the eame Ume uithlo9 * °f 8imple« incidental
more realietic and leea theatricals\t    i   8 "hot ln ordar to makB u «em through something ae elementary ll L ,rUCtur8d'   Thi" "*9ht be achieved in the foreground of a Sot   .. il J8"1"9,8xtra« in different direction.
OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 1     n! h the 1903 Blo9«Ph film A VICTIM
hn found in many cheee m™,     2 h     ^^"V uae of eimulteneity can
THIEF - in which a number of   c      ," ' BrUi8h PiCtUrB ™E CHICKEN
these ectiona functioninq ae alamanJ °"^)uithln 8 Bh<* but with all of itaelf. '^"loning ae alementa within, and eubaervient to, the chase
There were, of courae, elao other typea of eimulteneity.   Many early trick films, such as thoae of G.A. Smith in England or of Plaliea and Zecca in France, incorporated a dream or fanteay which was meant to be experienced by both the cheracter and the audience ee occurring at the same time as the film's more resliatic action.   This effect could be achieved through double exposure, by insstting one shot within another, end through opticsl projection or matteB.   Early examples include Smith's SANTA CLAUS (1898), Zecce'e HISTOIRE D'UN CRIME (1901) snd Miles' TUNNELLING THE ENGLISH CHANNEL (1907), in which Helies also used a cross-sectional set to present simultaneous action.
The inaertion of one film into another uaa not a device used only to depict a dream or fentaay or fantaatic experience.   In THE BOASTER, en early British film, the character's boeat ia visualised on a screen behind him - a sort of mental projection - ae he "apeaka".   In UNCLE 00SH AT THE MOVING PICTURE SHOW (Edieon, 1902), Uncle Joah end the movie thet he ie watching era ahown siro-ultaneouely.   Another type of simultaneity can be found in thB "combinetion film" in which one film is printed over another in order to creete a new film - for inatance, A NYMPH OF THE WAVES (1900) in which a shot of a uomsn ia aunarimDosBd on a ahot of the ocean.   A aemblance of eimultsneity was a!eo echoed In such trick films aa TWENTIETH CENTURY TRAMP, OR HAPPY HOOLIGAN AND HIS AIRSHIP (Edison, 1902) in which a sense of movement through the sir was created by piecing tha tramp in his sirship sbove a moving panorama
of the city-
Not all
in earlv cinema occurred uithin the shot, imultaneoua activity in «riy c DREAM 1901) ....or hfl« drawn attention to Porter a ___-----
prefer to concentrate for lf-ialf activity occura within the ahot iteelf.