Birth of the Pearl (1901)
1901 · Silent film · 1 min · dir. F.S. Armitage
- Fantasy
- Short
Synopsis
Two women dressed in elaborately decorated leotards and white tights stand on the edges of a stage, holding closed a dark curtain. A boy places two signs that read "Birth of the Pearl" in lyre-shaped easels on either side of the stage. The women draw the curtain, revealing a painted backdrop of the ocean and a seashore setting, upon which sits a large, closed oyster shell. The shell slowly opens to reveal a sleeping woman curled in the bottom of the shell, with long, loose, dark hair and a flesh-colored bodysuit that makes her appear nude. The model awakes and looks around her, then slowly--almost shyly--rises to her feet. She stands modestly with her hands behind her back, looking down. The two women, who have remained onstage the entire film, close the curtain on this pose. "In this picture there is a limited amount of action in the pose. As the curtains are drawn aside the shell appears shut. It gradually opens, disclosing the model curled up in a recumbent position. She slowly arises as is awakening, and gracefully assumes the final position of the pose"--American Mutoscope & Biograph picture catalogue.
Synopsis, reviewed
Details
- Director
- F.S. Armitage
- Running time
- 1 minutes
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Early film
Cast & crew
- F.S. Armitage Director
