''The Miller and the Sweep'' is a

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

short

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, directed by

George Albert Smith George Albert Smith Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was an American religious leader who served as the eighth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early life Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territor ...

, featuring a miller carrying a bag of flour fighting with a

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys ...

carrying a bag of soot in front of a windmill, before a crowd comes and chases them away. The film, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was one of the first films made by G.A. Smith, shortly after he first acquired a camera," and is also, "one of the earliest films to show a clear awareness of its visual impact when projected."

Plot

A miller is carrying a sack of flour from his windmill, when he accidentally bumps into a

who is carrying a sack of soot. The two start fighting, during the course of which the miller is covered with soot and the chimney sweep is covered with flour. The chimney sweep chases the miller off screen, and a small crowd of adults and children appears unexpectedly from the right of the screen to chase after them both. The film finishes when the last of the crowd exits the shot.

Production and release

''The Miller and the Sweep'' was one of George Albert Smith's earliest productions, having built his first film camera the previous year. It was filmed in a

single shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

on 24 July 1897 in front of Race Hill Mill on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

, north of

Brighton Racecourse Brighton Racecourse is an English horse racing venue located a mile to the northeast of the centre of Brighton, Sussex, owned by the Arena Racing Company. Location and layout It is situated on Whitehawk Hill, on the edge of the South Downs, ab ...

, and then re-filmed on 24 September - it is probably this latter version that has survived. These two versions are mentioned in Smith's cash book. There is no mention of the first print from July being sold. It is likely that the film was rehearsed before filming, as this was Smith's usual way of working with fiction films. The names of the actors are unknown, as with many films from the period, and it is not clear whether they are professional actors, music hall performers, comedians, or simply amateurs. The September version of the film was available for commercial sale within a fortnight of its filming, and two prints were sold in the first week of October.

Analysis

''The Miller and the Sweep'' makes use of a music hall motif that was prominent from the 1880s, that of "encounters between black and white", as represented by a miller or whitewasher and a sweep, or similar. The same theme can be seen in Smith's 1898 film ''The Baker and the Sweep'', and in other film-makers' works, such as James Williamson's ''Washing the Sweep'' (1899) or

Robert W. Paul Robert William Paul (3 October 1869 – 28 March 1943) was an English pioneer of film and scientific instrument maker. He made narrative films as early as April 1895. Those films were shown first in Edison Kinetoscope knockoffs. In 1896 he s ...

's ''Whitewash and Miller'' (1898). Often, "black" and "white" would be in competition with one another for the affection of a woman, although Smith avoided this romantic element in his film. For example, a popular comic sketch in England in the 1880s was "The Sweep and the Miller", performed by Professor Daltrey and Corporal Higgins. In this, the two suitors attempt to woo a housemaid, prompting a fight between them. More generally, comedic violence between working-class stereotypes was also a feature of Victorian music hall productions, which would become important in early film comedy. The film also provides an early example of an on-screen chase, of the type that would become particularly popular from 1903 onwards, in a trend prompted by British productions such as ''

A Daring Daylight Burglary ''A Daring Daylight Burglary'' (also known as ''A Daring Daylight Robbery'') is a 1903 British short silent film directed by Frank Mottershaw. The film was produced by the Sheffield Photo Company, and features members from the Sheffield Fire B ...

'' and ''

Desperate Poaching Affray ''Desperate Poaching Affray'' (known in the United States as ''The Poachers'') is a 1903 British chase film by Wales-based film producer William Haggar. Three minutes long, the film is recognised as an early influence on narrative drama in Ameri ...

''. Film historian Stephen Bottomore has stated that with this work, "Smith helped invent the chase film", by offering a "model for the chases in numerous British and other films in the years that followed".

Current status

The film has survived in its entirety, and the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

has made it available for viewing on its

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...

website. A clip from this film is featured in Paul Merton's interactive guide to early British silent comedy ''How They Laughed''. The film has been included on at least two modern DVD collections: ''Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers'', released in 2005 by BFI, and ''The Movies Begin: A Treasury of Early Cinema, 1894-1913'', released by

Kino International The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today it is a protec ...

in 2002.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller and the Sweep, The 1898 comedy films 1898 films 1890s British films British black-and-white films British silent short films Films directed by George Albert Smith Fictional millers Fictional chimney sweepers Articles containing video clips British comedy films 1898 short films Silent comedy films