The Waterer Watered (1895)

An impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.

Directors:

Alice Guy, Louis Lumière

Stars:

François Clerc, Benoît Duval

Cast

Credited cast:
François Clerc	...	The Gardener
Benoît Duval	...	The Boy

Storyline

A gardener is watering his flowers, when a mischievous boy sneaks up behind his back, and puts a foot on the water hose. The gardener is surprised, and looks into the nozzle to find out why the water has stopped coming. The boy lifts his foot from the hose, whereby the water squirts up in the gardener's face. The gardener chases the boy, grips his ear, and slaps him in his buttocks. The boy runs away, and the gardener continues his watering.

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Plot Keywords:

gardener | boy | water | hose | spanking | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fragments from this film entered a soviet film "Man from boulevard of Capuchins", history of the early cinema is ironically reflected in that.

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Connections

Edited into Landmarks of Early Film (1997)

User Reviews

ONE of the first comedies

The Lumiere Brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, reportedly made the first projected films ever. By today's standards, these films look rather crude because they mostly didn't feature any sort of plot but were mostly scenes of everyday life. Believe it or not, at this time ANYTHING would pass for entertainment--so long as it moved. "L'Arroseur Arrose" (aka "The Tables Turned on the Gardener" or "The Watered Watered" and known in some circles as "The Sprinkler Sprinkled" or "The Sprayer Sprayed") not only is a moving picture (wow, how cool, right?) but it TELLS A STORY! AND IT'S A FUNNY ONE! AND IT'S A LAUGH RIOT!! Okay, so it's not. But it was for the time. Today the gag is so old it doesn't work at all and thus the main reason to watch this short is because of the historical significance. However, I have something to say about this significance. Yes, this is considered the first comedy by many. And I'm not denying how important it is in cinematic history. But the truth is, this is not the first filmed comedy ever made. One year before, the Edison Manufacturing Company had performers Phil Doretto and Robetta star in several kinetoscope films of their comedy routine. The one surviving film of these three shorts is "Chinese Laundry Scene" which was filmed in Edison's "Black Maria" studio and while simply a filming of this routine, THAT short can be considered the first comedy. This one remains important as ONE of the first comedies, but not as THE first comedies.

On a side note, this gag was copied a lot by other filmmakers. One of French Cinemagician Georges Melies's first films, called "Watering the Flowers" is believed to have been a remake (though it is now lost). There is also a Bamforth version of the film available from 1899 called "The Biter Bit" which is an elaboration on the original skit.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

None

Release Date:

1896 (Finland)

Also Known As:

The Sprinkler Sprinkled

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lumière, Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

1 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1