Short film
De mésaventure van een Fransch heertje zonder pantalon aan het strand te Zandvoort
Willy Mullens · 1905
Synopsis
A bather dozes off in a beach chair, the tide catches him by surprise, and he takes off his trousers so as not to spoil them in the salt water. On the sand a crowd awaits him, jeering, then a policeman who starts to chase him, followed by an ever larger crowd. The man jumps onto a moving carriage, hides in a rolling bathing hut, and tries to escape under women's clothes.
Context
A travelling cinema was set up at Zandvoort, and its operators shot the scene on the spot in a single day, 22 July 1905, Willy Mullens directing and playing the bather, his brother Albert operating the camera. From 24 July, several newspapers told the story as a genuine news item; the Zandvoortsche Courant of 25 July only noted in its last sentence that it had been staged for a film. It is one of the first uses of the press by the cinema for publicity purposes.
Who it is for
Six silent minutes in eight scenes, with simple chase comedy, preserved by the Eye Filmmuseum and viewable online.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the oldest surviving Dutch fiction film, and included in 2007 in the Canon of Dutch Cinema, which has only sixteen titles.