Musty, wearing what appears to be a marching band uniform from his stage act, is grabbed and transformed into a cook at an automat. Although this lacks the general sadistic humor of the better Musty Suffer shorts - even though he chops a man's hand off, it's a dummy hand - it is a well-constructed although slightly primitive comedy for the era.
The Musty Suffer shorts made use of long standard filming techniques. In this one we see a lot of stop-motion work of the sort that Georges Melies had used a decade earlier. However, Melies' special effects were used solely for the "Wow" factor. The audience gaped at them. By the time this film was made, such effects had other purposes; they had become part of the grammar of film. Here, they make the audience laugh at their absurdity.
The Musty Suffer shorts made use of long standard filming techniques. In this one we see a lot of stop-motion work of the sort that Georges Melies had used a decade earlier. However, Melies' special effects were used solely for the "Wow" factor. The audience gaped at them. By the time this film was made, such effects had other purposes; they had become part of the grammar of film. Here, they make the audience laugh at their absurdity.
