A Chess Dispute

Dir: Robert W. Paul

1903

****

A blend of violence and comedy, pure slap-stick, making good use of props and including interesting experimental compositions. You could argue that Robert W. Paul was a genius, or you could say he was simply recording theatre. However, I would argue that there was always so much more happening in what seemed to be simple little short comedies. Robert W. Paul was a genius in my opinion, a pioneer in the world of cinema. He thought long and hard about the viewpoint of his audience, this was a totally different type of theatre and one he helped develop. It is telling that all of the techniques he used then are still used today. Also, to bring character out of a very simple idea, with a static camera and no sound, isn't as easy as it may appear. You could watch A Chess Dispute now and think nothing of it much, until you realize that this film pre-dated The Three Stooges by a quarter of a century. Harold Lloyd would have been ten years old and Buster Heaton would have been eight. The slight of hand, the way things get out of hand and the pure brilliance of the timing should not be overlooked. Live comedy would have been very different then, with audience interaction playing a huge part in proceedings, so this was very new territory still and extremely experimental. The fact that Robert W. Paul and others cracked it so early should be thought of that it was easy, but should be a suggestion of how talented they really were. Great film makers, great showmen and great comedy. Over a hundred years later and this film still translates as good as it did then, which can't even be said of some films made last year.