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Pretty Good

A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

While this is not staged and is still a documentary at heart, it also merits being one of the earliest films that can be attributed to the comedy genre. Imagine how audiences laughed at this! While it's only a minute long, back then people must have enjoyed every moment of this film. Three men, participants in a costume race, run across a field and open up some baskets, and in turn put on the costumes each one contains. Talk about comical! One of the guys is even wearing a tutu like a ballerina! Another is dressed like a fireman! It just goes to show that Robert Paul knew exactly what audiences would love--and while still a documentary it's more interesting than seeing workers leaving a factory. Even today this just might raise a smile.

1896 was the year that Robert W. Paul began to produce a lot of films for the growing British market. It was also the year that the modern Olympics were revived. That was in Athens, however. Nor has this event ever been one of the Olympic Games: not officially, anyway, although since the introduction of synchronized swimming, I'm not ruling anything out.Some men run towards the camera on a field marked with lanes. When they reach mid-closeup distance, they stop at what look like wicker picnic baskets, open them up and start to put on the clown garbs within, then run back to their starting points.It's a simple camera setup shot in one continuous take. At this stage, this was how films were shot and composed. It's an amusing, very short film and bog-standard for its era.