This 10 minute, 42-second Edison Motion Picture Company short from 1905 begins with a group of friends harvesting a crop from a field. Two scarecrows loom behind them. (Most movie-goers of today recognize that scarecrows usually are NOT a good omen for the cast of a film, and this convention of the straw boogie man apparently hearkens back to the earliest days of flicks.) The food gatherers are having a jolly old time when--all of a sudden--the scarecrows wriggle off their sticks and lurch toward the agricultural employees! To make matters worse, this pair of fake dummies soon strip down to black leotards with superimposed white skeletons (who would believe that movie makers had access to such post-Modern get-ups prior to the Great War?). Adding insult to injury, the skeletal apparitions begin chasing the hapless harvesters over hill and dale, making the latter's retention of their field bounty precarious at best. Fortunately, they make it to a seeming safe haven, but as anyone who has just seen the remake of EVIL DEAD might surmise, all hell soon breaks loose!
5 Reviews
An Odd, Stereotype-Filled Feature, But May Serve A Purpose Of Sorts Now
Snow Leopard15 November 2005
This odd Edison Company one-reeler packs a wide range of racial stereotypes into its short running time, and even aside from that it has some weird features to it. Although the stereotypes make most of it very uncomfortable to watch, it probably serves a purpose of sorts now, in preserving a record of some of the attitudes of its time, and in illustrating how easily these could be accepted by movie audiences.
The story starts with several African-American men slipping into a watermelon patch, and goes on to portray them and their families in a number of ways that, though they do not seem to have been mean-spirited, do not come across well now. In a sense, it elaborates on some earlier, simpler movies (both by Edison and other studios) that relied on similar ideas. It does add some comedy material of its own, some of it offbeat in itself, and some of the technical aspects are probably relatively good for the time. It keeps the tone light for most of the movie, but the last scene is rather unkind to the characters and leaves a different feeling.
Professor Michele Wallace has some very good observations in the commentary that accompanies this in Kino's DVD collection of Edison features, as she explains the origins of some of these stereotypes, and some of the lessons that they hold. Although these are the kinds of topics that are often avoided because they are so uncomfortable, if they are discussed in the right way there are some things that we can learn.
The story starts with several African-American men slipping into a watermelon patch, and goes on to portray them and their families in a number of ways that, though they do not seem to have been mean-spirited, do not come across well now. In a sense, it elaborates on some earlier, simpler movies (both by Edison and other studios) that relied on similar ideas. It does add some comedy material of its own, some of it offbeat in itself, and some of the technical aspects are probably relatively good for the time. It keeps the tone light for most of the movie, but the last scene is rather unkind to the characters and leaves a different feeling.
Professor Michele Wallace has some very good observations in the commentary that accompanies this in Kino's DVD collection of Edison features, as she explains the origins of some of these stereotypes, and some of the lessons that they hold. Although these are the kinds of topics that are often avoided because they are so uncomfortable, if they are discussed in the right way there are some things that we can learn.
How race was interpreted by one artist in 1905
Don Muvo25 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This is a small chapter in the long push-pull of America's racial history and how it has been observed by artists. Several positive points should be noted, and not just the negative plot which stereotypes blacks as agricultural thieves, and the use of watermelons as a racist meme.
After stealing watermelon, black gentlemen outsmart the two "skeletons" and return home with the loot. Good effort in showing off cakewalk from the black company. After the dancing ends, the black troupe simply occupies a large amount of time eating watermelon, with an especially good duet scene of two gentlemen communing while eating, since this is really what watermelon is good for. Finally, a larger white posse shows up with their dogs and smokes out the community of unaware stolen watermelon lovers by plugging their chimney, which could either be seen as funny or tragic.
The filmmaker attempts to endear us to the cultural life among the southern negroes of his time, while at the same time stereotyping both the white and the black race.
I was directed to the movie by theatlantic.com which is a long discussion of the entire culture of watermelon stereotyping. The author concludes that while, "there is nothing inherently racist about watermelons..., the stereotype has a life of its own."
I think both the film and the magazine article can be viewed best as historical artifacts, at least I hope so.
After stealing watermelon, black gentlemen outsmart the two "skeletons" and return home with the loot. Good effort in showing off cakewalk from the black company. After the dancing ends, the black troupe simply occupies a large amount of time eating watermelon, with an especially good duet scene of two gentlemen communing while eating, since this is really what watermelon is good for. Finally, a larger white posse shows up with their dogs and smokes out the community of unaware stolen watermelon lovers by plugging their chimney, which could either be seen as funny or tragic.
The filmmaker attempts to endear us to the cultural life among the southern negroes of his time, while at the same time stereotyping both the white and the black race.
I was directed to the movie by theatlantic.com which is a long discussion of the entire culture of watermelon stereotyping. The author concludes that while, "there is nothing inherently racist about watermelons..., the stereotype has a life of its own."
I think both the film and the magazine article can be viewed best as historical artifacts, at least I hope so.
4 from Edison
Michael_Elliott12 March 2008
Watermelon Patch, The (1905)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Several black men are stealing watermelon so the farmers put out scarecrow's with real men to scare them away. Here's another politically insensitive short that uses race to get laughs and while some of the stereotypes are so horribly over the top you can't help but roll your eyes and laugh.
Miller's Daughter, The (1905)
*** (out of 4)
Hazel is kicked out of her father's house when he learns she's involved with a married man and refuses to marry a good farmer who her father likes. Eventually Hazel finds herself on the streets, too poor to live anywhere and her father still hates her for her selection in men. This here was a pretty brutal and harsh film that deals with poverty, suicide and pretty much everything else in between. It's rather touching in the end as the girl gets one more chance at doing the right thing.
Train Wreckers, The (1905)
*** (out of 4)
A group of men get their kicks by derailing trains but they meet their match in a feisty woman who will stop at nothing to protect the trains. This is a pretty intense action/thriller that has some wonderful stunt work including one scene where the woman is knocked out on the tracks and a man has to climb to the front of the train and pick her up moments before being ran over.
Life of an American Policeman (1905)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Shows the everyday life of a policeman from waking up in the morning, having breakfast with his children and his duties on the job. Some nice stunt work but not nearly in the same league as Life of an American Firefighter.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Several black men are stealing watermelon so the farmers put out scarecrow's with real men to scare them away. Here's another politically insensitive short that uses race to get laughs and while some of the stereotypes are so horribly over the top you can't help but roll your eyes and laugh.
Miller's Daughter, The (1905)
*** (out of 4)
Hazel is kicked out of her father's house when he learns she's involved with a married man and refuses to marry a good farmer who her father likes. Eventually Hazel finds herself on the streets, too poor to live anywhere and her father still hates her for her selection in men. This here was a pretty brutal and harsh film that deals with poverty, suicide and pretty much everything else in between. It's rather touching in the end as the girl gets one more chance at doing the right thing.
Train Wreckers, The (1905)
*** (out of 4)
A group of men get their kicks by derailing trains but they meet their match in a feisty woman who will stop at nothing to protect the trains. This is a pretty intense action/thriller that has some wonderful stunt work including one scene where the woman is knocked out on the tracks and a man has to climb to the front of the train and pick her up moments before being ran over.
Life of an American Policeman (1905)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Shows the everyday life of a policeman from waking up in the morning, having breakfast with his children and his duties on the job. Some nice stunt work but not nearly in the same league as Life of an American Firefighter.
Racist Humor
Cineanalyst26 March 2010
The comedy in this early Nickelodeon one-reeler was supposed to come from racial stereotypes; of course, many today should find this offensive, and it's also a bit boring, despite being a brief 12-shot film. In "The Watermelon Patch", some black men steal watermelons. They're chased by two white men dressed in skeleton costumes, who were pretending to be scarecrows (yes, it's weird). The watermelon thieves get away for a while.
Then, the black characters dance inside-a scene similar to the barn dances in other Porter-Edison films: such as in "The Great Train Robbery", "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (both 1903) and "The Miller's Daughter" (1905). Additionally, the comedy chase had become a staple of early cinema by then. Next, they eat the watermelon. There's a medium shot of two characters eating, which if you look at their positions and the background, you'll notice the shot doesn't fit continuously with the rest of the scene. In fact, most of Porter's early medium shots and close-ups stand outside the rest of their films' narratives in this way; the shots only serve to enlarge some detail. This entire post-chase final part of this film, set in a one-room shack is slowly paced and poorly filmed even for 1905, and thus boring. There are a dozen or so characters eating watermelon in the room, and they're all facing frontally towards the camera-not very natural. The film's end has the farmers smoke the black characters out of the shack. There's an awkward temporal replay between the final two shots, as a woman exits through a window.
Then, the black characters dance inside-a scene similar to the barn dances in other Porter-Edison films: such as in "The Great Train Robbery", "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (both 1903) and "The Miller's Daughter" (1905). Additionally, the comedy chase had become a staple of early cinema by then. Next, they eat the watermelon. There's a medium shot of two characters eating, which if you look at their positions and the background, you'll notice the shot doesn't fit continuously with the rest of the scene. In fact, most of Porter's early medium shots and close-ups stand outside the rest of their films' narratives in this way; the shots only serve to enlarge some detail. This entire post-chase final part of this film, set in a one-room shack is slowly paced and poorly filmed even for 1905, and thus boring. There are a dozen or so characters eating watermelon in the room, and they're all facing frontally towards the camera-not very natural. The film's end has the farmers smoke the black characters out of the shack. There's an awkward temporal replay between the final two shots, as a woman exits through a window.
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