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L'Omnibus des toqus ou Blancs et Noirs

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Wikipedia article


'L'Omnibus des toqus ou Blancs et Noirs' ("The Omnibus of Crazy People or Whites and Blacks") is a 1901 French film by Georges Mlis produced by Star Films. It is a science fiction-comedy running approximately one minute depicting clowns being taken to an asulum on a coach pulled by a mechanical horse that looks like a skeleton. After being back-kicked by the mechanical horse, the clowns escape and burn the coach, then give a brief performance in which slapping each other turns them black. This looks like blackface, but may be just intended as an inversion of the white clown make up. The clowns are absorbed into one, giving him a fat stomach, but he explodes. In the English-speaking world, names of well known asylums were included in alternate titles, including 'Off to Bedlam' in Britain and 'Off to Bloomingdale Asylum' in the United States.

The mechanical horse is powered by steam. Phil Hardy credits the idea of mechanical horses to Edward S. Ellis in 'The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction', noting 'The Steam Man of the Prairies' (1865) and calling it, along with 'Frank Reade and His Steam Men', 'Steam Horse', and 'Steam Team', stating that they were translated into French and popular among French schoolboys.Hardy, Phil. (ed). 'The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction'. 3rd Edition. New York: The Overlook Press, 1995, 22.

References



Category:1901 films

Category:French science fiction comedy films

Category:Silent films

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