Polin, l'anatomie du conscrit

French music hall performer Polin sings a comic song about being in the army.

I's one of a series of sound films produced by Gaumont. From 1905 through the outbreak of the First World War, there were a goodly number of sound films shot, most of them musicals of one kind or another. Eventually they turned out to be novelties and little more, limited by technical issues of synchronizing the film with the records of the sound, and the financial problems caused by the expense of maintaining the venues that could show the,; the sound playback systems did not have much power, which is why old records had such huge trumpets to get the sound to the listeners' ears.

A French singer named 'Polin' sings a song about how it stinks to be a draftee in the army. Sadly the film has no subtitles but it's really not that important. What IS important is that the short is one of the earliest sound films...and although the sound on the accompanying disc is a bit tinny and flat, it's awfully amazing for 1905.

Overall, this is a film deserving of a small audience, as most people would be bored by it. But it IS historically important and I am thrilled it's been reassembled and placed on YouTube for odd folks like me to enjoy!