Sherlock Holmes Baffled

Arthur Marvin: Sherlock Holmes Baffled (US 1900). Identified by Robert Byrne as the first Sherlock Holmes movie. From Wikipedia, see the whole Mutoscope.

GCM Serata finale 2023 II

(Sherlock Baffled) (USA, 1900). regia/dir, photog: Arthur Marvin. prod: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (prod. 1900; copyright 1903). copia/copy: DCP, 40" (da/from 35 mm paper print depositato presso/deposited at Library of Congress, 750 fotogrammi/frames, 20 fps). fonte/source, restauro/restoration: San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

    Grand piano: Daan van den Hurk.

    Teatro Verdi, Pordenone, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM), 14 Sat 2023

Robert Byrne (GCM 2023): " Sherlock Holmes Baffled is the first film in which a character identified as the great detective appears. The film was directed and photographed by Arthur Weed Marvin, one of the four founders of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, who completed more than 418 films between 1897 and 1911. Originally created in 1900 to be viewed in Mutoscope arcade machines, the film was deposited for copyright in 1903 in the form of a 35 mm paper print which survives as the only remaining original material, hence the annoyingly apparent rough texture of the cheap paper on which the film was printed. The concept of restoring the film originated with Russell Merritt and the project was completed and dedicated to his memory by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. " – Robert Byrne

 
AA: The master detective is outwitted by a foe armed with movie magic. Sherlock Holmes is baffled, and so are we, in this stop trick film of the vanishing burglar.