Hell's Kitchen was -- and remains -- the nickname of a neighbourhood in Yorkville, Manhattan. In the late nineteenth century, and for some decades thereafter, Hell's Kitchen was a slum ... with all the usual traits of that grim term. The predominant ethnic group in the neighbourhood were the lower-class Irish. (James Cagney was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen.) The nickname survives: perhaps ironically, since (as I write this) Hell's Kitchen is now an extremely yuppified neighbourhood with very high rents.
This short film from circa 1900 is cried 'A Wake in "Hell's Kitchen"', with the nickname in inverted commas. Perhaps the film-makers didn't want to imply that this monicker is the neighbourhood's REAL name ... or perhaps they just wanted to distance themselves slightly from the word 'Hell', still somewhat shocking in sedate 1900.
We see two men sitting next to a coffin on a table, quaffing what seems to be beer. (The Biograph catalogue's synopsis contradicts itself, describing this stuff as both 'beer' and 'ale'.) Nearby stands a grey-haired woman, presumably the widow. I noticed straight off that this 'woman' is actually a male actor in a frock and a wig ... not that the disguise is hard to penetrate. Unless this movie is documentary proof of a same-sex marriage in 1900, I figured there could only be one reason for the cross-sexed casting: the 'widow' would be involved in some slapstick gag more suited to a brawny male than to some delicate actress.
SPOILERS COMING. Sure enough. While the widow's back is turned, the dead man sits up in his coffin. He looks round, and sees the widow's stein of brew. He sups the lot, and then he lies down in his coffin again. Is this the world's first zombie movie, depicting a dead man rising from his bier to drink a beer? Maybe the 'dead' husband was merely dead drunk, and now he's awake at a wake. Anyroad, his widow, I mean his wife (the other guy) comes back, sees that someone has nicked her drink, and starts berating the two drunks, I mean the mourners. From this high-minded acme of cerebral discourse, the movie degenerates into a slapstick argument, with the widow (a man, remember) getting pushed into the coffin on top of her dead husband, who rises to protest.
Why does this film's title specifically site the action in Hell's Kitchen, rather than a generic lower-class district? I'd mentioned that the denizens of Hell's Kitchen were Irish-American. Clearly, this film is attempting some ethnic humour, with the Irish as the target: we're meant to believe that the Irish are too stupid to tell a drunkard from a corpse, that Irish wakes are just an excuse to drink booze, and that Irish gatherings turn into brawls. Also, judging from the looks of that widow, apparently we're meant to believe that Irishmen have ugly wives.
Faith and begorrah! I found this movie to be quite mean-spirited, and only vaguely funny. It could arguably be considered a drag comedy, since the female role is played by a man. My rating: just 3 out of 10.
This short film from circa 1900 is cried 'A Wake in "Hell's Kitchen"', with the nickname in inverted commas. Perhaps the film-makers didn't want to imply that this monicker is the neighbourhood's REAL name ... or perhaps they just wanted to distance themselves slightly from the word 'Hell', still somewhat shocking in sedate 1900.
We see two men sitting next to a coffin on a table, quaffing what seems to be beer. (The Biograph catalogue's synopsis contradicts itself, describing this stuff as both 'beer' and 'ale'.) Nearby stands a grey-haired woman, presumably the widow. I noticed straight off that this 'woman' is actually a male actor in a frock and a wig ... not that the disguise is hard to penetrate. Unless this movie is documentary proof of a same-sex marriage in 1900, I figured there could only be one reason for the cross-sexed casting: the 'widow' would be involved in some slapstick gag more suited to a brawny male than to some delicate actress.
SPOILERS COMING. Sure enough. While the widow's back is turned, the dead man sits up in his coffin. He looks round, and sees the widow's stein of brew. He sups the lot, and then he lies down in his coffin again. Is this the world's first zombie movie, depicting a dead man rising from his bier to drink a beer? Maybe the 'dead' husband was merely dead drunk, and now he's awake at a wake. Anyroad, his widow, I mean his wife (the other guy) comes back, sees that someone has nicked her drink, and starts berating the two drunks, I mean the mourners. From this high-minded acme of cerebral discourse, the movie degenerates into a slapstick argument, with the widow (a man, remember) getting pushed into the coffin on top of her dead husband, who rises to protest.
Why does this film's title specifically site the action in Hell's Kitchen, rather than a generic lower-class district? I'd mentioned that the denizens of Hell's Kitchen were Irish-American. Clearly, this film is attempting some ethnic humour, with the Irish as the target: we're meant to believe that the Irish are too stupid to tell a drunkard from a corpse, that Irish wakes are just an excuse to drink booze, and that Irish gatherings turn into brawls. Also, judging from the looks of that widow, apparently we're meant to believe that Irishmen have ugly wives.
Faith and begorrah! I found this movie to be quite mean-spirited, and only vaguely funny. It could arguably be considered a drag comedy, since the female role is played by a man. My rating: just 3 out of 10.
