... I just didn't realize that they seemed so natural and even modern.
I saw this on somebody's youtube channel and at first thought the entire thing was some kind of hoax by some group of people trying to duplicate the look and feel of the kinetophone films. Nope, this actually was a kinetophone film, struck from the original negative, so it looked realistic.
The "joke" is that Jack introduces his friend to a young lady, yet to arrive as being beautiful and rich, but also being very deaf but self conscious about it. Separately, he tells the young lady that his friend is very deaf but self conscious.
After they meet and Jack leaves the room, the pair proceed to shout at one another. Each thinks that the other is shouting because they are deaf.
Arthur Houseman, who plays Jack's friend, often played the drunk in early short films. Sadly enough, Houseman was an actual alcoholic.
Edison actually was deaf by this time in his life, and so it is odd his film company made deafness the object of the short film's joke.
I saw this on somebody's youtube channel and at first thought the entire thing was some kind of hoax by some group of people trying to duplicate the look and feel of the kinetophone films. Nope, this actually was a kinetophone film, struck from the original negative, so it looked realistic.
The "joke" is that Jack introduces his friend to a young lady, yet to arrive as being beautiful and rich, but also being very deaf but self conscious about it. Separately, he tells the young lady that his friend is very deaf but self conscious.
After they meet and Jack leaves the room, the pair proceed to shout at one another. Each thinks that the other is shouting because they are deaf.
Arthur Houseman, who plays Jack's friend, often played the drunk in early short films. Sadly enough, Houseman was an actual alcoholic.
Edison actually was deaf by this time in his life, and so it is odd his film company made deafness the object of the short film's joke.