The Vacuum Cleaner

Original title: L'aspirateur

1906
4m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

108

YOUR RATING

Comedy Short

In this funny picture we see the vacuum cleaner, the modern dust eradicator, performing some very droll tricks. As soon as the fellow turns on the air then the fun begins. It is all accompli... Read allIn this funny picture we see the vacuum cleaner, the modern dust eradicator, performing some very droll tricks. As soon as the fellow turns on the air then the fun begins. It is all accomplished through some clever trick photography. First we see two attendants start out to do a ... Read allIn this funny picture we see the vacuum cleaner, the modern dust eradicator, performing some very droll tricks. As soon as the fellow turns on the air then the fun begins. It is all accomplished through some clever trick photography. First we see two attendants start out to do a cleaning job, and while they stop to take some refreshments, two men, who happen to be pas... Read all

Director
- Segundo de Chomón

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

108

YOUR RATING

Director
- Segundo de Chomón

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos2

User reviews3

5.6108

Featured reviews

9planktonrules

This film about two jerks does NOT suck!

"The Vacuum Cleaner" is a hilarious film considering that it was made in 1908 and it still stands up very well today. Segundo de Chomón has crafted a funny little film that is quite clever.

The film begins with a couple guys pushing a HUGE hand-cranked vacuum cleaner down the street. They leave it for a moment and two jerks find the machine and decide to have fun--sucking all sorts of objects and even people into the machine! It's done through stop-motion--stopping the machine as the objects seem to be pulled into the giant vacuum hose and then restarting the camera after the object or person has been taken off-camera. It's a crude effect by today's standards but it's done very well here. It makes for a cute little film that ends appropriately. Quite good and worth watching.

7boblipton

The Stolen Vaccum Cleaner

Segundo de Chomon was the big guns when it came to doing Melies films and stealing his audience -- with a twist. With Melies, what you usually got with the magic tricks was a magician. That, however, was a limited number of pieces and if you wanted to use those tricks -- particularly stop-motion disappearance -- you had to place them in a context, changing the magic from the point of the piece to the grammar.

Although the line of grammar that de Chomon invented was a dead end -- the techniques would remain -- he executed them with more variety that Melies. Here a couple of thieves steal a street vacuum cleaner and use it to pilfer all manners of goods and people in a variety of settings, including some on the street, as opposed to Melies' controlled, set-bound pieces. It's no more than a variation, but a highly amusing one at that.