Alice Guy, the first woman film director -- indeed, the first film director -- directs this remake of the famous Lumiere comedy.
At this time, there was no way for a film maker to copyright a film, so uncredited remakes of popular films was very common. Because the films were sold outright to anyone who wished to show them, they were offered in catalogues. A canny catalogue would have as many different films as possible and, since remaking the film would mean the original film maker would not have to be paid a profit, it was often cheaper to remake it, or to simply buy a copy and reprint it as often as desired.
This situation would not last. Soon enough film makers would plaster their trade marks over their sets. This would give them protection against others simply reprinting their work. In the United States, several of the production companies would print every frame of a film on paper, bind it into a book and submit the book for copyright protection. These "paper prints" would become the source for early works. In the 1910s the US copyright code would be rewritten to include films.
In the meantime, Gaumont simply had Madame Guy reshoot this film.
At this time, there was no way for a film maker to copyright a film, so uncredited remakes of popular films was very common. Because the films were sold outright to anyone who wished to show them, they were offered in catalogues. A canny catalogue would have as many different films as possible and, since remaking the film would mean the original film maker would not have to be paid a profit, it was often cheaper to remake it, or to simply buy a copy and reprint it as often as desired.
This situation would not last. Soon enough film makers would plaster their trade marks over their sets. This would give them protection against others simply reprinting their work. In the United States, several of the production companies would print every frame of a film on paper, bind it into a book and submit the book for copyright protection. These "paper prints" would become the source for early works. In the 1910s the US copyright code would be rewritten to include films.
In the meantime, Gaumont simply had Madame Guy reshoot this film.