the audience applauded

Brilliant and touching

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This early Hepworth film is fairly humorous but it carries on for far too long and drags in the middle because of the repetitious nature of its scenes. An old man plays a trick on a youngster with pepper causing the boy to sneeze uncontrollably. The boy, who, it has to be said, appears ever so slightly effeminate (and might have been played by a girl), gets his own back by peppering the old man's hairbrush, handkerchief, hat, etc while he sleeps. In the morning the old man's sneezes are so powerful that things in their path collapse and fall apart or fall off walls, etc. The sneezes keep on building until they create an earthquake and then cause the old boy to explode.The last minute or so of the film is probably the most effective. Where a filmmaker today would use a shaking motion of the camera to transmit an earthquake, the cameraman here rocks the camera back and forth, eventually slowing down to signify the passing of the quake while the old boy hangs on to a lamppost. It's still quite an effective little trick. Overall though, the film went on far too long for what is essentially a one-shot joke.

An elderly man plagues a small boy by putting pepper all over his food and making him sneeze uncontrollably. Later that night when the man is asleep the boy sneaks into his room and puts pepper all over his clothes and possessions. The next morning sees the man unable to stop sneezing but it is not the frequency of the sneezing that is the real problem but rather the power.Firstly you really need to try and ignore the performance of the young boy in this film because he is awful; and not by modern standards but by the standards of those around him as well. His fist waving at the dinner table is so unconvincing that I was laughing before the jokes started coming. Outside of this though (and he keeps mincing along in each scene) the film is actually pretty amusing and is a very good example of early special effects humour and the destructive sneeze gag that others continued to use afterwards. The various scenes of things falling apart are amusing and mostly very well done even if some are better than others. The final shot is a simple cut but it was delivered very sharply, well edited and in time with the music and it worked really well.Worth seeing then because as well as having value as part of cinematic history in the UK, it is also genuinely quite amusing.

Early special effects film that borrows a lot from Georges Melies and uses gags that comedians like the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy were still finding worthwhile 30 years later. At dinner an elderly man laces the food of a young boy with pepper, unleashing a barrage of sneezes which the old fellow finds quite funny. That night the boy enters the old man's room and puts a large supply of pepper on his handkerchief, in his hat, and other places and just waits for morning. (I sure hope this pair is just uncle and nephew. I would hate to think father and son played such pranks on each other. Then again maybe I should repeat to myself "It's just a show, you should really just relax.") The next day the man discovers he is plagued with uncontrollable sneezes which turn out to be very destructive! One good "ah-choo" destroys a storefront, another blows a woman's hair off, another causes a mild earthquake (accomplished by rocking the camera back and forth) and so on. It is not long before an angry crowd of merchants and passers-by are chasing the man. Meanwhile the boy follows closely waving the pepper shaker and having the time of his life. How does it end? Take the title literally! If you want to see other comics milking sneeze gags just watch the Marx Brothers in AT THE CIRCUS (1939) when Harpo's sneeze demolishes the inside of a caravan. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy explored the dangers of uncontrolled sneezes in some of their 2-reelers as well. This is a great example of early special effects and comedy and almost a century later it is still hilarious.

Granted, this is not profound, earth-shattering filmmaking of the sort to change lives and open minds. It's still fun, imaginative in a way that--so early in film history--had the flavor of unknown possibilities. Now that we know we can do anything via computer graphics, there's so little joy in trick photography and special effects via rigged props. Its strength is its rough edges; this is film in evolution. And the way they chose to end this film is nothing short of priceless.