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In the Barber Shop
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Wikipedia article
'In the Barber Shop' is a 1908 French short silent film by Georges Mlis. It was sold by Mlis's Star Film Company and is numbered 11021103 in its catalogues.
Two of Mlis's frequent collaborators appear in the film: Fernande Albany as the plump client, and Manuel as one of the barbers. The film's special effects are created with substitution splices. The film appears to have been inspired by a 1906 Path film in which a Black man uses bootblack to darken the face of a woman who mocks him. The Black character in Mlis's film is played as a pejorative caricature, typifying the stereotypical figure of the 'dandy ngre' ("Black dandy") that frequently appeared in turn-of-the-century French imagery. There may also be some influence from American minstrel shows.
In a study of otherness in popular entertainment, French writer Enrique Seknadje comments that the film perpetuates racist stereotyping by associating erotic desire with Blackness, but also that the woman's anger seems to imply a criticism of society's casual racism.
References
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