Jack Fat and Jim Slim at Coney Island (1910)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Release Date:

2 December 1910 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Two men sneak away from their wives to go have some fun at Coney Island. |

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

John Bunny
Kate Price

Production Companies

• Vitagraph Company of America

Distributors

• General Film Company (1910) (USA) (theatrical)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Vitagraph Company of America

Trivia:

Debut of John Bunny.

Mostly of historical interest.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I viewed a print of this film which had the original intertitles cut out and German-language titles spliced in. The opening credits were missing altogether: a definite loss, as they might have revealed the name of the astonishingly tall and gaunt actor who plays Jim Slim. His neighbour Jack Fat is played by the rotund John Bunny, here quite early in his very popular Vitagraph career.

Jack (nearly spherical) and Jim (beanpole-thin and tall with it) are next-door neighbours in the same block of flats. One day both men are sitting on their adjacent fire escapes, reading the papers, when Jack suggests to Jim that they sneak out without their wives and visit Luna Park. They climb down the fire escapes, furtively glancing back to make certain their wives aren't following.

After a stock shot of an above-ground subway train transporting our heroes, we now see some fascinating footage of Luna Park, the celebrated amusement park in Brooklyn's Coney Island. (We also see one shot of the Brighton Beach pier; interestingly, three years earlier, the 1907 Vitagraph film 'Liquid Electricity' also included a scene at almost this exact same spot.) Jim Slim goes for a ride aboard a live dromedary; it's truly bizarre to see this immensely tall thin man lurching along atop the camel's hump.

Most of the attractions at Luna Park involved flinging the patrons across whirling discs or revolving walls; in our modern litigious era, such attractions are unimaginable. One comparatively modest attraction which we see here is the Cake Walk: basically a moving staircase, with two halves moving independently. We see an attractive young girl negotiating this easily. I couldn't help noticing that all the patrons of Luna Park seen in this movie are white: sad to say, the owners of the property did not admit black customers.

SPOILERS COMING. Of course, the two men's wives track them down and comic retribution ensues. This movie isn't very funny, but it's fascinating for its views of a fun fair that no longer exists. I'll rate this Vitagraph short 7 out of 10. I sure wish I knew who 'Jim Slim' was.