European Rest Cure

This is quite an ambitious film from Edison directed by Edwin S. Porter. With a running time of just under twenty minutes it's longer than Porter's groundbreaking The Great Train Robbery from the previous year, although its episodic structure suggests it may have been sold and screened in shorter versions. Some of the material - such as the panoramic view of New York and the storm scene look as though they may be earlier actualities inserted into the film to pad out the running time.

The story is fairly simple, following the mishaps of a wealthy American tourist as he explores Europe - with an unexpected diversion to Africa between sojourns in Italy and Germany to visit the pyramids of Egypt. It's fairly amusing for the period, but most of the scenes run far too long.

This bit of hapless footage from the Edison company would seem as ordinary vintage stock footage of a ship about to sail and the happenings of the passengers as implied by the title. But being an ocean liner buff I was pleased to see the once famous Cunard liner Etruria(featured in the film)leaving dock with the supposed 'star' passengers. The ship's name appears prominently as she backs up from dock. The Etruria & her sister ship would've been about 19 years old when this flick was produced. When they were launched in 1885 they were the fastest liners in the world but now when this film came out the two ships were reaching the end of their service lives and Cunard would replace them with two new superliners: Lusitania & Mauretania. But still this is fascinating just to see a ship of this vintage in active motion even if it's brief and for a one shot. This Edison film is similar to the Edison 1898 film "Troop Ships For the Philipines" which also features an ocean liner called the Australia.

Like other reviews, i had the same reaction when watching it: it reminds me of National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) because it's about touring in Europe and having funny misadventures. The big difference here is that the locations are not real but just sets: Egypt and Alps are funny because they look very like background. The other change (or rather evolution) is that this Grandpa travels by boat and not by planes! And as others wrote, it's a great moment of cinema to watch the departure of a real Cunar liner: the departure was the same as for the future Titanic but the boat size is definitely smaller, even if we can see that it's full of passengers. With that, we have as bonus a wonderful view of NYC docks by the way. I'm surprised to not have read the usual negative comments about discrimination because the locals are all depicted dumb or thieves (not communities for europeans?)... I invite you to my review for Fights of Nations (1907) to my feeling about this issue and watching this movie, i understand one more thing: when those old movies were shot, travels and news from others countries were not what they are today: actually i think almost all people would have never met an outlander (except in books or in cinema) so other countries were built with imagination and clichés. Anyway, this short movie is quite funny and this is exactly the same kind of fun that the Griswold would meet too!

European Rest Cure, The (1904)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting film from the Edison Studios about a cruise across Europe. Considering it's 1904 there's not any story being told but the film seems to have been made so that Americans could see various popular places overseas. The entire film was shot in the Bronx with sets looking like the other countries.

How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the NY Harold Personal Columns (1904)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another Edison short this time has a man placing a personal add only to be chased through the street by dozens of women. Not too many laughs here but you gotta wonder if Keaton saw this when he made Seven Chances nearly twenty years later.

Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride (1904)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The title says it all in this Edison short. The big highlight is the final stunt where Nat gets thrown off a moving train.

Scarecrow Pump, The (1904)

*** (out of 4)

A farmer turns his water pump into a scarecrow. Runs just over a minute but the final gag is quite funny.

Another super production from Edwin S. Porter, lasting twenty minutes. The unidentified tourist is sent to Europe for his health. He is dropped on his head while kissing the Blarney Stone, robbed by bandits in Italy and falls off a mountain in the Alps. Don't confuse this one with NATIONAL LAMPOON'S EUROPEAN VACATION. This one is actually funny.