Mr. Bumptious

In 1910, the Edison Company was making some of the very first movies designed to entertain.  They were silent. I mean totally silent.  No audio track at all. When these first movies were shown in theaters, they were most often accompanied by a pianist.  In the top theaters in places like New York and Los Angeles, these silent films might also have backstage people operating sound machines.

backstage wind machine

The definition of bumptious is a person overly confident  or arrogant.

A series of short movies were made around 1910 that featured a character named, Mr. Bumptious.  The one attached is about an arrogant fool from the Inspector Clouseau School of Acting. It's a very engaging reflection of the culture and technical sophistication of that era.

 

 

 Amazing how far we've come in less than a hundred years.

Here is a You Tube link to the Edison silent, Mr. Bumptious Papered the Parlor.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDOkdYtim4