Mess Call

While this Edison feature was originally made in the hope of capitalizing on the popularity of military-themed movies at the time, it turned out to have been entertaining for an entirely different reason. There are a great many early movies (especially the Lumière classics) that feature footage of non-professional subjects to whom the camera itself was a novelty. The reactions of the earliest movie subjects are always of some interest, but especially so here, in that the soldiers show unfeigned curiosity, interest, and excitement about being filmed.

The footage was taken at a New York Militia training camp in upstate New York, and the decision to film at meal time turned out to determine the tone of the footage. Whether it was intentional or not, catching the servicemen while they were at ease gave them the chance to act in a completely natural manner.

While many other movies of the era show the persons being filmed trying hard to look as if nothing special is happening - with perhaps one or two persons in a crowd unable to hold back a reaction - these men make no attempt to hide their excitement. They wave, smile, gesture, and horse around with an innocence that is quite entertaining to watch. They are probably expressing an honest enthusiasm that many others had, but were afraid to display openly, about the earliest movies.

That's what we see in this early short by James White. As officers and enlisted men wander across the screen in front of the mess tent, one enlisted man eats his meal rapidly while he's walking. Neither does he neglect to salute each officer he encounters, although it's more of a vague wave.

There are a couple of civilians who seem fascinated by the camera. It appears they don't have anything else to do.

Although this short was undoubtedly set up and posed throughout - the private who is intent on his meal never wanders out of screen - the details make it seem realistic.

William Heise and James H. White shot this short film while at the training grounds of the New York State Militia.

The men do not act passively while being filmed, but instead engage with the camera, giving the film some more energy then of the other short films of the time period.