Pickpock ne craint pas les entraves - 1909
ABOUT THE FILM : Pickpock ne craint pas les entraves
Lobster FilmsSlippery Jim
Year: 1909
The Pathé catalogue’s summary goes as follows: “Pickpock is behind bars. But more elusive than Arsène Lupin, no chain resists him and he plays with policemen like a cat with mice. After having masterfully taken them for a ride, having brought them down to an effigy, he rolls them up and throws them out the window. But the policemen come back to life and the chase goes on. Pickpock, caught a second time, locked up behind heavy bars, finds a new way of escaping and imprisoning in turn the policemen, before walking off calmly, hands in his pockets.”
Nationality: French
Length: 8' 21"
Genre: trick film
Sound: silent with soundtrack
Original elements: black & white
Producer: Pathé
Composer: Antonio Coppola (2008)
Original language: French
A BRIEF HISTORY : Pickpock ne craint pas les entraves
Today, all that is left of this lost film is a 16mm print of satisfactory quality, released in the US under the title Slippery Jim, with English intertitles. Directed by Segundo de Chomón (1871-1929), Catalan artist settled in France, this film renews the genre of the effect film, mixing successfully chase films and effects films. Chomón's imagination is wilder than ever. Chomón makes the most of his rare technical skills in an interminable series of effect films with Julienne Mathieu his spouse for the company Pathé Frères.
This Spanish man from Teruel leaves his office job to become a colorist for Georges Méliès. A good part of his career is spent at Pathé's where he participates in the set up of a system of industrial coloring; the Pathécolor.
In 1901, Chomón settles down in Barcelona. He directs numerous documentaries, has a go at animation and effects. Called back by Pathé to Paris, Chomón works as a camera operator on The Goose that laid golden eggs in particular. He directs all in all about forty films and makes an attempt at every genre.
Action, laughter, imagination and much madness! As a Pathé advertisement of the day read: "If it's funny, then we're sure to go see it !"
The original music for this film was composed by Antonio Coppola in 2008.
