The Dancing Pig

Making the man a pig suggests that the woman is the victim of the man's vileness but the pig seems to be an OK guy while the woman initially rejects him, then kicks and humiliates him and gets him to obey her order to dance with her a number, naked. "Poor pig", we think, but behind the stage his lecherousness comes to light when he makes suggestive facial expressions to the audience. So is he completely stupid to think he will score with that woman after what just happened? Is the message that men are stupid pigs that women can easily play with if they want to? No. Because if you pay attention the pig wears the tuxedo again that she ripped off his body earlier. So either this shows him before he went out on stage meaning it is a flashback, or it plays some time later before he is actually about to kick it off with her after the rocky start. Either way it shows that he's a pig alright and had it coming.

A lovely short film, reminding the flavor of vaudevil, fragment of a lost time , one the little love stories beginning as desire to conquest the beautiful lady, becoming manipulated by her,representing mixture of humor- not so soft- and nostalgia , a seductive story about a pig as part of a kind of parable and a decided woman using it in not the most delicate proposition. Short - pure gem.

This film was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.

According to the notes for this film, the Dancing Pig routine was common on stage and it was filmed for several different companies--in this case Pathé-Frères. I have not seen any of the other versions, but was amazed at this short film--mostly because the pig costume was amazing to see. While it didn't look like a real pig (after all, pigs aren't over six feet high nor do they wear clothes and dance like people), it didn't look like a cheap old costume. Heck, it was better than what I'd expect a lot of companies today! Seriously.

The film consists of the pig performing alone and with a pretty woman. There really isn't much plot, but it's a pretty cool film--one that should STILL grab your attention today.

The Dancing Pig is four minutes of pure nightmare fuel from the early days of cinema, the film featuring an oversized anthropomorphic porker dancing with a pretty woman. The pig, resplendent in top hat and dinner jacket, starts off by trying to woo the young lady; unsuccessful, he goes for a quick grope instead, so the woman strips him. The pair then dance together for a while, the pig stopping momentarily to pop on a frock. The pig starts to waggle its tongue and roll its eyes but that doesn't scare the woman like it would me - she just carries on a-prancing.

The film ends with a close of the pig's face which will haunt your dreams, the creepy swine flapping its ears while rolling its eyes upwards and lolling its tongue around a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

9/10. I just love strange old films like this (apparently, the dancing pig was a popular music hall routine back in the day. Nowadays, it just seems really freaky).

This early 20th century silent short from France was the first item on disc 2 of the "Saved from the Flames" DVD collection. It has someone in a giant pig costume being humiliated by a beautiful girl dancer he has a crush on as she strips his clothes and makes him dance both naked (so to speak) and with a dress on. Oddly, this is when the pig enjoys himself to the point of sticking his tongue out and moving his eyes! I found this pretty amusing if not hilarious and, at 4 minutes, just about the right length. I do wonder if this was meant for children especially with the stripping and the female dancer moving her skirt up and down like the famous Can-Can. Still, The Dancing Pig (the English title on the disc) is worth a look.