The Miller and Chimney Sweep

The answer.....No, sadly not. Though miller and the sweep has to be hailed as a most whimsical cinematic treat.The drama, suspense,romance and the unidentified crowd at the end all add to the films complex storyline which must have been too much for the audiences of 1898. A enlightening experience, one for all the family!

This is pretty good slapstick - it's a good movie for its time, and even if it were a sequence in a movie a little later on in the silent era, it would still be pretty good. The scenario is based on an idea that at the time was often used in music hall sketches and the like, but as with a lot of such ideas, the film-makers still had to adapt it so as to overcome the limitations of movie-making in the 19th century.

The simple story highlights a confrontation between a miller dressed in white, who is carrying a bag of flour, and a chimney sweep covered in dark soot. The fracas that ensues has some good moments, and it uses the basic idea pretty well.

Although a stage version at the time could have added extra humor by making use of dialogue, the film-makers instead added to the basic setup by using an outdoor setting, and by adding some extra material at the end.

So, besides being funny, it's a resourceful feature and a very early example of good technique in adapting stage material to the different needs of the screen.

Okay, if this film had been made much later in the history of cinema, it wouldn't be particularly worthwhile. However, in 1898, films were in their infancy and they were almost all rather dull and had no real story to tell--instead just showing normal everyday folks doing everyday activities. If seen today, almost all of them are hopelessly dull and very, very short--often less than one minute long! And so in light of this, this short clip of a movie is pretty swell stuff and might just make you laugh. Two guys, a miller and a chimney sweep bump into each other--falling and throwing flour and coal dust all over each other as they tussle. THAT'S ALL--the film is over before you know it.

This early slapstick comedy is entertaining to watch now, and for 1898 exceptional considering many films at the time had no story at all. So, for the time, this film is good for 1898 because not only does it have a story to tell, it's a contender for one of the earliest comedies. All that happens is that a miller bumps into a chimney sweep and then they fight. A crowd then enters the scene and chases after them for no real apparent reason. It's a pretty fun 30 seconds even if it's not all that funny today.

I watched this film on a DVD that was rammed with short films from the period. I didn't watch all of them as the main problem with these type of things that their value is more in their historical novelty value rather than entertainment. So to watch them you do need to be put in the correct context so that you can keep this in mind and not watch it with modern eyes. With the Primitives & Pioneers DVD collection though you get nothing to help you out, literally the films are played one after the other (the main menu option is "play all") for several hours. With this it is hard to understand their relevance and as an educational tool it falls down as it leaves the viewer to fend for themselves, which I'm sure is fine for some viewers but certainly not the majority. What it means is that the DVD saves you searching the web for the films individually by putting them all in one place – but that's about it.

Planktonrules says, had this film come later it might have been of no value but in 1898 it was part of early development of cinema. However I think he does it a disservice because this was a period where some films were still simple shots of normal action which relied on the novelty value of the audience seeing it on the screen more than anything else. However to me the Miller & the Sweep is an interesting piece of comedy because of its simple visual gag. Not particularly funny, but this film has two extremes and then sees them essentially discolour one another. The miller is white and gets turned black by the coal dust from the miner and vice versa due to the miller's flour.

It is not hilarious but it is a nice idea and the delivery is good in that the miller is very clean and white, while the sweep is very black – an effective juxtaposition. Not great then but I liked the use of the clashing colours and the fact that the look of the film had been designed and delivery as opposed to being a shot of an event.