Stop Thief!
Stop Thief! | |
---|---|
Directed by | James Williamson |
Produced by | James Williamson |
Starring | Sam Dalton |
Cinematography | James Williamson |
Production company | Williamson Kinematograph Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 2 minutes 8 seconds |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | Silent |
Stop Thief! is a 1901 British
Review
BFI Screenonline reviewer Michael Brooke points out that the film "features three sequential shots depicting continuous high-speed dramatic action and a fully worked-out narrative with a clear beginning (the tramp's theft of the joint of meat), middle (the chase through the village), end (his violent comeuppance after hiding in a large barrel), dramatic irony (the joint is reduced to a bare bone by the dogs who are ostensibly helping the butcher) and a witty punchline (the butcher uses the bone as a club with which to prolong the tramp's agonies)." "Another relative innovation is that despite this relative complexity (at least for the time), Stop Thief! is completely comprehensible without any intertitles or accompanying context-setting explanation, the film's title summing up both the situation and giving voice to the only words uttered on screen."
References
- ^ Brooke, Michael. "Stop Thief!". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
External links
- Stop Thief! at IMDb
- Stop Thief! on YouTube