. . . and this was considered "family entertainment" by light bulb guy Thomas Edison during a period when the extremities of chairs and tables needed to be referred to as "limbs" in polite society (since a woman blurting out "I just bumped my knee on a table LEG" would be judged harshly for employing such a scandalously racy figure of speech). Seen today, SANDOW No. 1 could only be viewed as a truncated half minute TV commercial for some brand of adult underpants, such as Depends. An otherwise naked guy twists this way and that, with the pitchman (if this could have been a talkie) intoning, "Look, no matter which way Teddy totters, he doesn't leak!" This "Sandow" guy's parents must have left him with a pretty big chip on his shoulder when they christened him "Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller." (That's even worse than George Alexander Louis Hanover--oops, I mean Windsor!) Whenever his parents took this boy named everything but Sue to the museum, young Wilhelm yearned to be one of the nude statues, immune to the laughter of passing schoolgirls. (See his biography here on IMDb.) The crying shame of it is that in the 21st century he could have buffed up, crossed illegally into China, shouted "Long live the Dalai Lama!" and before you could say "Jack Robinson" he'd have been shot in the back of the head and plasticized for museum exhibition--which was his ultimate dream all along!

Sandow (1894) Carmencita (1894) Boxing Cats (1894) Caicedo With Pole (1894) Annabelle Butterfly Dance (1894)Cockfight, no. 2 (1894) These six shorts from Edison, still early in the movie game, are rather interesting because of the self promoting factor in them. It's clear a few famous folks thought appearing in movies might bring more people to their actual show and on that level these shorts remain very interesting today. That's especially true when you consider the lack of footage of such acts. Sandow is Eugene Sandow, the man who claimed to be the strongest in the world. Shot on March 6, 1894, we see Sandow flexing in various ways in front of the camera. I'm not sure what he was thinking at the time of shooting but seeing this today is quite a laugh. Carmencita is the famous dancer doing her belly dance on screen making her the first woman to appear in an American movie. The film has become somewhat famous over the past several years because of various documentaries doing studies about early sexuality and how it caused so much controversy. This film, as innocent as they come, did strike a bit of outrage when originally released so it's fun to look at with that in mind. It's also worth noting that this was the first movie listed on the IMDb. Boxing Cats would have PETA members throwing a fit today but in 1894 seeing two animals fight, in a funny manor, was quite entertaining. Prof. Welton can be seen in the center of the frame directing his two cats, with boxing gloves on, to fight. This is actually pretty funny and it's worth noting that the cats throw more punches than a lot of the real fights that were filmed around this time with humans. Caicedo With Pole has hire-wire specialist Juan Caicedo jumping, bouncing and flipping on his wire, which must have been an amazing site when originally released. Annabelle Butterfly Dance features the famous Annabelle Moore dancing around a stage in a white outfit with wings attached. This here probably remains one of the most viewed shorts from this era with its images being shown throughout the world when it comes to exploring early cinema. Cockfight, no. 2 would be controversial today as it features two birds going after one another while two men in the background make bets. This was actually a remake so to speak as the original film was released earlier in the year and was apparently so popular that the prints wore out, which caused the studio to make this version. Apparently the original version didn't feature the men in the background.

This is the first Edison film that actually features a 'celiberity', which makes this a bit more than just another typical usual Edison Manufacturing Company film, by William K.L. Dickson.The man in the film was Eugen Sandow (real name Friederich Wilhelm Mueller). He claimed to have been the strongest person alive at the time and who knows, maybe he was. I mean, it was not like bodybuilding was an extremely popular or common thing back in 1894. He was quite a celebrity back in his time and had friends in the highs societies of which Thomas Edison also appeared to be one of. He also seemed to be a generous person, who also contributed a lot to the world of bodybuilding. Some of his influences and ideas are even still notable today.He takes lots of different positions within this short film, exhibiting his muscular physique. Sometimes he goes a bit out of frame with his arms, which of course obviously was not intended and sort of makes you question if Edison and Co. were also happy with the result.Even though he was only 27 at the time, he looked much older. He also died at a fairly young age of 58 years. But who knows, perhaps he looks old in this because the image quality of course also isn't the highest.Perhaps historical a significant film because of the person that's featuring in it, but from a more experimentally significant kind of view, this film doesn't add an awful lot.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The historical background to this Edison Company footage of strongman Eugen Sandow is much more interesting than the movie itself. In its day, it was a triumph of opportunistic self-promotion, both by the subject and by the film studio, and it became the first of many Edison features to showcase the era's entertainment celebrities.Sandow was renowned for his formidable physical strength, but unfortunately he does not perform any feats here that might provide evidence of it. Instead, he spends his screen time flexing his muscles and assuming a variety of positions that highlight them. To be honest, it's rather boring, but that is admittedly a matter of personal taste, and many of its viewers probably enjoyed it for its own sake.According to film historian Charles Musser, Sandow waived his appearance fee in return for the chance to shake hands publicly with Edison, which provided lavish press coverage that helped both of them to share in one another's celebrity. They each certainly understood what they were doing, and thus this short feature is quite interesting as a demonstration that the commercial aspects of the movies have been part of the field right from the beginning.