The Big Swallow

A man swallows as he approaches, with the shot from an American field gradually becoming the detail of the mouth, towards the operator who swallows. A climax (graduality)of the fields of the framing.

This is a pretty clever little film made during the very early days of motion pictures. A guy is being filmed and he doesn't seem to like it. So, as the camera approaches, he opens his mouth and seems to swallow the camera,...followed by the entire camera crew as well! The film certainly deserves credit for being different and amusing! While the special effect isn't exactly perfect by today's standards, for the time it was pretty amazing stuff. And, unlike many of the films of the era, this one is still pretty entertaining if viewed today. This film would probably be of most interest to kids and film historians. Adults, however, probably will think it's all pretty silly--and that's exactly why I like it.

This early film by James Williamson's Kinematograph sees a man enraged by photographer who is setting up to take his picture. The yelling man gets closer and closer until all we see his gaping mouth, into which the hapless photographer falls, camera, tripod, and all. The film-maker's camera then pans back and we see the man, no longer angry, chewing in a very satisfied way. I imagine in 1901 the twist ending was quite surprising. Comical in an archaic, anarchic way.

The Big Swallow (1901)

**** (out of 4)

The "story" here is pretty simple as a man is standing in front of the movie camera arguing with someone. He keeps walking towards the camera until he swallows the entire thing and even the man operating it. I'm sorry but I really, really loved this little film. At just a minute the entire thing is basically being sold on the "effect" of the man swallowing the camera and when this happen it's quite funny. I'm sure this was meant to compete with the work of Georges Melies and while I've seen many rips, this one here actually manages to capture the type of magic that the French master did with his films. The special effect of how the trick was done is quite obvious today but I can just imagine the laughter and sense of wonder that this thing must have caused back in 1901. At just a minute there's really no reason why someone who loves films shouldn't check this out.

The first film that shows a man devouring a camera from the camera's perspective. This takes some mundane, contrived event and makes it quite interesting. I'm sure early audiences must have found it quite fascinating and humorous.