It's really not much interesting action here in these 25 seconds, but smart work by the director elevates this film above many others from its time. I liked how he filmed the horses and mounted police exactly from the front, not from the side of the road or anything. It's an intriguing view to see them gallop closer and closer to us and I can only imagine how great of an experience it might be to see this on the big screen in a cinema for example. It almost seems like an army is coming for you and you're one of the troops about to fight them and all hell's gonna break loose in a couple seconds. Good work by silent film pioneer James H. White and a good example of how one single smart decision can save a movie and make it much better.
5 Reviews
Limited Both By Its Time & By Its Technique
Snow Leopard30 November 2005
Although the subject has some possibilities, this Edison Company feature shows the limitations both of its time and of its technique. Although the camera field is well-chosen in some respects, the camera cannot adjust to the changing distances between it and its subject, which means that for most of the movie many potentially interesting details are not very clear. It also probably would have been more interesting with the use of a different camera angle.
As the title implies, the footage consists of a look at a couple of dozen New York City mounted police officers, as they charge towards the camera in Central Park. The officers are in full dress uniform, but due to the indistinct detail it looks a lot less impressive in this footage than it would have looked in person. The background and other details likewise are often barely visible. It may have been a somewhat hazy day, but in any case the action loses something without a clear and interesting background. The carriage moving in the opposite direction is about the only detail of interest that can be seen clearly.
The camera position works well in capturing the action from beginning to end. But the Edison film crew chose a head-on angle from which to film, and indeed this was often their method. This is one of many cases in which the Lumières' technique of using a diagonal angle would probably have made for more interesting and exciting footage. As it is, the ending (in particular) comes as something of an anticlimax. Like almost every movie of its era, it's worth seeing, but in this case merely as a historical example.
As the title implies, the footage consists of a look at a couple of dozen New York City mounted police officers, as they charge towards the camera in Central Park. The officers are in full dress uniform, but due to the indistinct detail it looks a lot less impressive in this footage than it would have looked in person. The background and other details likewise are often barely visible. It may have been a somewhat hazy day, but in any case the action loses something without a clear and interesting background. The carriage moving in the opposite direction is about the only detail of interest that can be seen clearly.
The camera position works well in capturing the action from beginning to end. But the Edison film crew chose a head-on angle from which to film, and indeed this was often their method. This is one of many cases in which the Lumières' technique of using a diagonal angle would probably have made for more interesting and exciting footage. As it is, the ending (in particular) comes as something of an anticlimax. Like almost every movie of its era, it's worth seeing, but in this case merely as a historical example.
My English professor insisted that I review a movie on IMDb . . .
tadpole-596-91825631 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
. . . to fulfill one of the weekly assignments, so I tried to find something brief. This movie is about 20 seconds long, give or take a second, so I was able to view it during a break in one of my on-line games against someone who's a Boardwalk short of a million bucks from McDonalds. I keep seeing dead people in MOUNTED POLICE CHARGE. None of the cops look like teenagers, and there are no civilians in sight. (Not unless you count the buggy going in the opposite direction, and only the horses are visible with it.) Admittedly, this print is so washed out by age or antique camera equipment that it's hard to get a real good look at anything. Such as, are there high rises in the background, or is that just dust on the film? But getting back to the dead cops, the youngest would be born in 1876--the year of Custer's Last Stand. So if you do the math, today they would be at least 136 years old--which means even the youngest guys are still as dead as the oldest mounted geezer. At least someone from GONE WITH THE WIND is still alive. Maybe it would be a great idea to destroy all the copies of a flick once the last person appearing in it croaks. Otherwise, you're focusing your attention on starlight from burned out suns, which is depressing!
Awkwardly-Shot Short Documentary
Tornado_Sam29 November 2020
The manner in which this short film from Edison company filmmaker James H. White is shot is both awkward and faintly amusing, due to how the camera is placed in order to capture the action. It had only been a little while ago, a year or less, that the Edison company had stopped production in filming vaudeville performers and dancers, and they, not being professional photographers like the Lumière Brothers, appeared to be struggling some with how to properly compose a picture. There were good compositions, such as in "American Falls from Above, American Side" (same year), or the "Morning Alarm" films. This is one case where the Lumières simply would have done better, perhaps by shooting from a side angle as in "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat". What was done here just didn't succeed, and the result is somewhat humorous to see.
The composition at first appears to be quite good, as the mounted police charge of the title gallops forward in the distance. Unfortunately, they are headed right towards the camera, so that by the end the entire force is brought to a stop where they just sit awkwardly on their horses in front of the camera while the last five seconds or so run out. There is simply something off in the way it was pulled off that doesn't settle right, and the fact that they had to stop before hitting the camera is particularly funny - a diagonal angle would have worked better if not quite as effectively. Nonetheless, it is an interesting glimpse of history as always, capturing police officers that would otherwise be forgotten today.
The composition at first appears to be quite good, as the mounted police charge of the title gallops forward in the distance. Unfortunately, they are headed right towards the camera, so that by the end the entire force is brought to a stop where they just sit awkwardly on their horses in front of the camera while the last five seconds or so run out. There is simply something off in the way it was pulled off that doesn't settle right, and the fact that they had to stop before hitting the camera is particularly funny - a diagonal angle would have worked better if not quite as effectively. Nonetheless, it is an interesting glimpse of history as always, capturing police officers that would otherwise be forgotten today.
Nice For Its Time
Michael_Elliott31 December 2012
Mounted Police Charge (1896)
At just 24-seconds there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but fans of early cinema should at least be entertained. What we basically have is a camera set up in Central Park as a group of mounted police officers appear in the background and race up to the camera stopping just before hitting the camera. There's no real entertainment to be had here except for film buffs who enjoy watching these early movies. This Edison film at least gives people an interesting look at history because of getting to see these police officers. I always find it interesting to see how things really looked in 1896 so we get to view Central Park as well as see what type of uniforms were being worn by the police back in the day.
At just 24-seconds there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but fans of early cinema should at least be entertained. What we basically have is a camera set up in Central Park as a group of mounted police officers appear in the background and race up to the camera stopping just before hitting the camera. There's no real entertainment to be had here except for film buffs who enjoy watching these early movies. This Edison film at least gives people an interesting look at history because of getting to see these police officers. I always find it interesting to see how things really looked in 1896 so we get to view Central Park as well as see what type of uniforms were being worn by the police back in the day.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
