The Thieving Hand

This charming and very amusing short film from 1908 surpasses many short films of today in its imagination and execution. The special effects, although nowhere near as slick as today add charm to a short film that succeeds in telling a visual story that may well not have worked so well if there was dialogue.

The Thieving Hand is a fun little silent-era film dating back almost 120 years. In it, a wealthy man buys a beggar an artificial limb-a hand that looks surprisingly realistic-but the hand turns out to have a mind of its own, constantly trying to steal from others.

This uncontrollable hand, which is also difficult to get rid of (as it keeps coming back to cause more trouble), has appeared in several films throughout cinema history. One of the most memorable examples is Evil Dead II, released nearly 80 years after this silent-era gem. It's kind of mind-boggling to realize that someone had this idea way back in the early days of film.

The idea behind this film - the idea of a false limb developing a mind of its own and carrying out evil deeds against the wishes of its new owner was something that the horror genre would later embrace, but back in 1908 it was played strictly for laughs.

The effects are OK for the period, but are nothing groundbreaking, and the film shows both how far the cinema had progressed since its very early days and how its technical limitations still prevented it from delivering an experience that would still interest an audience today. There were many filmmaking techniques which are commonplace today that were still to be developed back in 1908.

This offbeat fantasy feature is both funny and imaginative, combining a surreal story idea with some down-to-earth slapstick gags. It also features a pretty good range of special camera effects, and most of them work well. In the first decade of the 1900s, many film-makers strove to come up with off-the-wall ideas to give extra life to their comedies, and this is one of the better examples of its kind.

The story starts with a one-armed street peddler who earns the gratitude of a rich passer-by. To show his gratitude, the rich man takes him to a store that sells limbs, and from then on the story is amusingly bizarre. The poor man's new arm quickly displays a will of its own, leading to some entertaining situations. The closing gag is, by that time, somewhat predictable, but it is funny, and it works in rounding off the story neatly.

The special effects of "The Thieving Hand" in action seem to be relatively straightforward in terms of technique, but most of them are convincing and fun to watch. The camera tricks and the wacky nature of the story both make this short comedy an enjoyable one.

Thieving Hand, The (1908)

** (out of 4)

Very interesting, if not totally successful comedy about a one-armed man who buys a fake arm, which turns out to have a life of its own. The special effects and set design are terrific in this short and pretty much ahead of their time but the "laughs" just never come due to some timid direction.

Impossible Convicts (1905)

*** (out of 4)

Interesting short about four convicts who try to escape from jail. The technique used here is that the film was shot in a few takes with the action-taking place backwards. This makes for some nice scenes as well as a unique feel.