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.
This is a film only history teachers and cinemaniacs could love. After all, films of this era are terribly boring to most folks today, as the films are usually about 30 seconds long and just show people doing everyday things--such as eating, watering the lawn and the like. Yet, despite this, audiences of the day were enthralled--they'd never seen anything like it before and they couldn't get enough.
"Partie de Cartes" is exactly what it means--a card party. Some folks are sitting around a table playing cards as a lady observes. Sadly, that's all there is to it. So why did I give it a 7? Have I lost my mind? Perhaps, but I gave it such a high score because it was hand-colored. While not super uncommon in the day, this meant that huge factories of women with paint brushes were literally applying paint to each cel! Think of the time that went into this. The average film, though only about 30 seconds, was shown at about 20 frames per second (depending on how fast the camera guy cranked the handle)--and that means about 600 frames were thus colored---and this had to be done to EVERY print they released! Wow--no wonder the practice was soon abandoned!
This is a film only history teachers and cinemaniacs could love. After all, films of this era are terribly boring to most folks today, as the films are usually about 30 seconds long and just show people doing everyday things--such as eating, watering the lawn and the like. Yet, despite this, audiences of the day were enthralled--they'd never seen anything like it before and they couldn't get enough.
"Partie de Cartes" is exactly what it means--a card party. Some folks are sitting around a table playing cards as a lady observes. Sadly, that's all there is to it. So why did I give it a 7? Have I lost my mind? Perhaps, but I gave it such a high score because it was hand-colored. While not super uncommon in the day, this meant that huge factories of women with paint brushes were literally applying paint to each cel! Think of the time that went into this. The average film, though only about 30 seconds, was shown at about 20 frames per second (depending on how fast the camera guy cranked the handle)--and that means about 600 frames were thus colored---and this had to be done to EVERY print they released! Wow--no wonder the practice was soon abandoned!