Robert Paul is a largely forgotten name today, but he was a major pioneer of British cinema, and was quick to grasp the commercial potential of cinema in ways that better known pioneers such as William Friese-Greene were not. He was more of a mechanic than a filmmaker making, with Birt Acres, his own camera on which to shoot films in 1895, and also Britain's first projector, the Animatograph, with which to screen them in 1896. Early in the 20th century he had a custom-made studio built in Muswell Hill.
For the time, Undressing Extraordinary, at three-minutes long, almost qualifies for epic status. It's a comedy film made by Walter Booth – who may conceivably be the performer in the film – at Paul's Muswell Hill studio. The young chap in the film is slightly the worse for drink. He tries to undress for bed, but keeps finding himself in a series of different costumes. It's a nonsensical story which was clearly intended simply to show off the stop-motion technique that makes it very reminiscent of a Melies film.
For the time, Undressing Extraordinary, at three-minutes long, almost qualifies for epic status. It's a comedy film made by Walter Booth – who may conceivably be the performer in the film – at Paul's Muswell Hill studio. The young chap in the film is slightly the worse for drink. He tries to undress for bed, but keeps finding himself in a series of different costumes. It's a nonsensical story which was clearly intended simply to show off the stop-motion technique that makes it very reminiscent of a Melies film.
