Thirteen years earlier, the Edison Company created quite a sensation when they released a film called "The Serpentine Dance". Annabelle Moore flung her arms about rhythmically while wearing a gown with billowy arms. Believe it or not, it was a very hypnotic film and was often imitated (such as a version with Loïe Fuller doing this unusual sort of interpretive dance). At the time, it was a sensation and film historians feel it is one of the great early films.
In 1908, Segundo de Chomón revisited the dance in "The Beginning of the Serpentine Dance". It begins with some 18th century folk doing a rather dull dance. However, one of the guys at the dance is taken to a dungeon by a mysterious Satan-like character (very much a copy of Georges Méliès Satan). Using alchemy and tossing in a picture of the crucifixion, out pops a lady who is doing the dance! But to make it better than the original, SEVEN ladies eventually appear and do this odd dance.
It certainly won't change your life and is quite derivative. However, for film nuts like myself, it's quite an enjoyable piece.
In 1908, Segundo de Chomón revisited the dance in "The Beginning of the Serpentine Dance". It begins with some 18th century folk doing a rather dull dance. However, one of the guys at the dance is taken to a dungeon by a mysterious Satan-like character (very much a copy of Georges Méliès Satan). Using alchemy and tossing in a picture of the crucifixion, out pops a lady who is doing the dance! But to make it better than the original, SEVEN ladies eventually appear and do this odd dance.
It certainly won't change your life and is quite derivative. However, for film nuts like myself, it's quite an enjoyable piece.