Explosion of a Motor Car | 1900 | Short, Comedy

Title: Explosion of a Motor Car | 1900 | Short, Comedy Director: Cecil M. Hepworth. Studio: Hepworth Manufacturing Company. Starring: Cecil M. Hepworth, Henry Lawley. Release Date: July 1900 . Runtime: 2. Format: Silent; black-and-white. Country: United Kingdom. Language: Silent. Genres: Comedy, Trick film, Short. --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Suburban road and approaching car 00:00:20 Passengers wave to camera 00:00:40 Sudden explosion 00:01:10 Policeman investigates 00:01:30 Debris falls from the sky 00:01:50 Aftermath and close --- Summary: On a quiet suburban street, a motor car carrying a driver and three passengers approaches the camera. Without warning, the vehicle explodes, leaving wreckage in the road. A passing policeman surveys the scene and peers skyward as limbs and clothing descend, prompting him to methodically note the remains. The film uses macabre humor and playful violations of physics to provoke laughter and surprise, anticipating later screen comedy built on exaggerated cause-and-effect and visual trickery. --- Background: Produced by Hepworth Manufacturing Company and directed by Cecil M. Hepworth, this early British trick film deploys stop-camera substitution popularized by Georges Méliès, along with a deliberate “comedy delay” in which objects fall far slower than in real life. These techniques made the piece one of the most memorable British trick comedies of its era and showcase Hepworth himself as the on-screen policeman. --- Trivia: Also circulated under the alternate title The Delights of Automobiling. Distributed in the United States in July 1902 under the title Explosion of an Automobile; American releases were handled by companies including Kleine Optical Company and Selig Polyscope. AFI’s catalog synopsis notes the policeman gathering scattered body parts into a pile while taking notes, a key gag in the closing moments. Included by the BFI on the DVD Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers and excerpted in Paul Merton’s How They Laughed. Surviving versions vary in length due to transfer speed and source, typically running between about 1 and 2 minutes. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: July 1900 . Original Studio / Distributor: Hepworth Manufacturing Company. Copyright Status: Public Domain. Renewal: No. --- Hashtags: ExplosionOfAMotorCar CecilMHepworth SilentFilm BritishCinema EarlyCinema PublicDomain 1900 TrickFilm This video was sourced from Internet Archive. Originally uploaded by Cecil M. Hepworth. https://archive.org/details/explosion-of-a-motor-car-1900-directed-by-cecil-m.-hepworth