The Gay Shoe Clerk

The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903) offers early romantic comedy as the clerk in question tries to get a little too friendly with his young female client, only to be clopped on the head by her severe mother. The timing was good, and there is a subtle eroticism in the way his hand slowly pushes up her skirt to reveal her stockings...

The copy I watched was from the "Treasures of American Cinema", Volume I (first disc), and like everything else on the set is impeccably transferred and well-scored, with excellent documentation. To the lover of early cinema, or anyone who wants to explore the byways of American film in general, it's an indispensable set.

I suppose today 'The Amorous Shoe Clerk' would be a more accurate title for this one-scene comedy film from film pioneer Edwin S. Porter. It's quite an amusing little skit, featuring an early screen kiss and an early use of the close-up. Apart from this and, as another reviewer has pointed out, the need for care in the timing to make the joke work, the film is fairly unremarkable. Nevertheless every film, no matter how short, deserves at least ten lines according to the powers at IMDb, so here I am typing away and hoping for the best before I press the Preview button... Damn... Porter sort of faded away, you know. He was the biggest thing in movies during much of its first decade but, like Griffith 20 years later, he failed to evolve in line with the cinema. (surely that must be enough?)

The idea here is pretty simple, but it is set up rather well, and thus the movie is amusing enough despite the limited material and running time. Early film-makers often made watchable pictures just by taking a basic idea like this, thinking of an appropriate setting, and pacing it out properly. Something like this might be used a brief scene in a movie of the present time, but in its own era it stands up well enough on its own.

The story starts with the shoe clerk waiting on a flirtatious young woman, and it then follows the subsequent developments. Nothing fancy or brilliant, but it did require some care, planning, and timing to make it work. It is also a very simple example demonstrating that it is possible to convey characters' amorous intentions by very simple means, without using explicit material.

With a title that suggests a Channel 4 documentary film, this short is actually a quick sketch that is all very cheeky and funny I'm sure but hasn't really stood the test of time at all. It features a bit of a build up and some good facial expressions and finishes with the clerk of the title getting rebuked (with an umbrella) for taking liberties with his customer. It is very short and is done with just a static camera shot so I was wondering what the lasting value of it was other than being part of a bigger history. I didn't find it particularly clever or funny and, with other UK silent shorts I could be watching to see how they built the foundations, I didn't think there had been much point in seeking this one out.

For some reason or another, I happened to catch this little flick somewhere not too long ago.

It is basically a shoe salesman that is seduced by a women customer's good looks (who, by today's standards, really doesn't look that great at all) and proceeds to help her try on shoes. Part of the woman's dress slips and shows a third of her leg, which then the camera cuts to the man's face showing a really goofy suprised look on his face. Then the manager comes around and smacks him with an umbrella. Ouch!

Judging by the fact it was mildly amusing to watch this one minute video today, I'm sure it was absolutely hilarious about 100 years ago. Pretty decent camera work considering that no one back then was really a professional "cameraman." The whole thing seems pretty Chaplin-ish. Your typical short goofy comedy. Consider it a decent camera experiment, as that's all it really is. Nothing wrong with that, I guess.