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Film, Video Mr. Jack in the dressing room Shooting title in Biograph production logs: Mr. Jack visits the dressing room / Mister Jack in the dressing room

Digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • Mr. Jack in the dressing room

Other Title

  • Shooting title in Biograph production logs: Mr. Jack visits the dressing room
  • Mister Jack in the dressing room

Summary

  • Opens on a stage set of the interior of a theatrical dressing room. Along a bar that serves as a dressing table sit three costumed young women adjusting their hair and makeup in three mirrors hanging from the wall. Two of the women wear very short outfits that show their stockinged legs; the third woman is dressed in a ruffled dress to the knee. A portly, middle-aged man with muttonchop whiskers enters the room, dressed in evening clothes and top hat and carrying a cane. He hands the cane and hat to the delighted women and responds to them in a jovial, familiar manner. He calls in a uniformed boy with a tray of glasses and a bottle, then pours drinks for himself and all the ladies. They toast each other and drink, then the man begins to dance a jig. The women apparently decide to dress him as a woman, placing a tulle apron around his waist as he rolls up his pants legs. As he continues his jig, a severe-looking woman in a dark dress, hat, and gloves enters. She reacts in shock at the sight of the dancing man in his skirt, then grabs him and hits him with the parasol she carries. As the young women watch and laugh, the older woman drags the embarrassed man from the room by his ear.

Names

  • Weed, A. E., camera
  • American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
  • Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
  • Niver (Kemp) Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904.

Headings

  • -  Flirting--Humor
  • -  Showgirls--Humor
  • -  Husbands--Humor
  • -  Wives--Humor

Genre

  • Comedy films
  • Silent films
  • Short films
  • Nonfiction films

Notes

  • -  H44028 U.S. Copyright Office
  • -  Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 29Mar1904; H44028.
  • -  Original main title lacking.
  • -  Duration: 0:57 at 16 fps.
  • -  The character, Mr. Jack, may be inspired by a comic strip character drawn by Jimmy Swinnerton. Swinnerton's Mr. Jack was a rakish, philandering character, with a tiger head on a human body--a shameless flirt who was usually discovered and punished by his wife.
  • -  Biograph production no. 2851.
  • -  Paper print shelf number (LC 0099) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
  • -  Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
  • -  Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Niver, K. Early motion pictures, 210; AFI catalog: film beginnings, 1893-1910, p. 686; Biograph production logs; Biograph bulletins, 1896-1908, p. 36-37.
  • -  Camera, A.E. Weed.
  • -  Filmed March16, 1904, in the Biograph New York City studio.
  • -  Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
  • -  Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.

Medium

  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (22 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (58 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (22 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (58 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
  • master pos pic 1 film reel of 1 (ca. 20 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
  • paper pos 1 roll of 1 (ca. 60 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.
  • paper pos (copy 2) 1 roll of 1 (ca. 60 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FLA 3113 (viewing print)
  • FEC 2180 (viewing print)
  • FRA 0449 (dupe neg pic)
  • FPE 7675 (dupe neg pic)
  • FRB 2210 (master pos pic)
  • Box 0859C (paper pos)
  • Box 5257E (paper pos, copy 2)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 96521796

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Weed, A. E., Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, Paper Print Collection, and Niver. Mr. Jack in the dressing room. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/96521796/.

APA citation style:

Weed, A. E., American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, Paper Print Collection & Niver. (1904) Mr. Jack in the dressing room. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/96521796/.

MLA citation style:

Weed, A. E., Camera, et al. Mr. Jack in the dressing room. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1904. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/96521796/>.