
A.E. Weed
2021From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen
A.E. Weed
The film opens on a dressing room set with a mirror, dressing table, and chair center stage and a folded dressing screen on the left. A smiling, dark-haired woman enters through the door on stage right, unbuttoning a full-length polka-dot costume. As she undresses, she frequently looks directly at the camera and smiles. She removes her sash or cummerbund, the top with its trailing sleeves, and her skirt, leaving her clothed only in a sleeveless chemise. Smiling directly at the camera, she mischievously slips a strap of the garment off one shoulder, then ducks behind the screen.
From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen
Pity the Blind, No. 2
A.E. Weed
A small stage has a backdrop of a city street, sidewalks, a park, and buildings. From stage right, a boy leads a blind man onto the stage, helps him kneel with his hat and cane in front of him. The boy hands a sign, "pity the blind" around the man's neck and leaves. A fellow in a bowler hat passes by, dropping a coin in the blind man's hat. Then two well-dressed women enter, talking.
Pity the Blind, No. 2
Mr. Jack in the Dressing Room
A.E. Weed
We see three pretty actresses in a surprisingly spacious and clean dressing room, backstage at a theatre. Their costumes indicate that the entertainment on offer here is something less than grand opera: one actress is dressed somewhat demurely, but another is in (by 1904 standards) a skimpy chorus-girl costume, whilst the third is dressed like the principal boy in a panto: fully covered, but in a form-fitting outfit that makes clear her feminine charms.
Mr. Jack in the Dressing Room
Duel Scene, 'By Right of Sword'
A.E. Weed
[A]n excerpt from the novel by a chap named Marchmont in which the hero, a fellow with the heroic name of Hamylton Tregethner attempts to dissuade a fellow soldier from insisting on a sword duel for some unexplained offence.
Duel Scene, 'By Right of Sword'