What old movie features this sight gag?
February 5, 2018 5:43 PM
I think this is from the silent era, but it really seems like it could be in a Jacques Tati movie. It's set aboard an ocean liner. The gag consists of two separate shots of an inebriated man (in the film the shots might be a few minutes apart) that together compose a great visual joke.
First, as the ship cruises on calm seas, the drunk man staggers and reels as he tries to make his way with great difficulty along a corridor. Other passengers stroll gracefully past him. Later, as the ship heaves to-and-fro in heavy seas during a storm, a shot of the same corridor shows passengers stumbling and swaying, barely able to keep their feet, while the (presumably still drunk) man is now briskly walking a perfectly straight and steady path among them.
First, as the ship cruises on calm seas, the drunk man staggers and reels as he tries to make his way with great difficulty along a corridor. Other passengers stroll gracefully past him. Later, as the ship heaves to-and-fro in heavy seas during a storm, a shot of the same corridor shows passengers stumbling and swaying, barely able to keep their feet, while the (presumably still drunk) man is now briskly walking a perfectly straight and steady path among them.
I am pretty sure thats either Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.
posted by sexyrobot at 6:42 PM on February 5, 2018
posted by sexyrobot at 6:42 PM on February 5, 2018
More than film may have used the gag, but I found a reference to it in Hitchcock's Champage (1928)
Neither funny nor particularly dramatic, with a paper thin plot, Champagne has to rely on Hitchcock's visual wit to carry the film, with attractive sets, and pleasant sight gags. An example being a delightful moment set aboard a swaying ship, where a very drunk man walks in a straight line as the ship and everyone else sways violently.posted by fings at 7:41 PM on February 5, 2018
It's possible that Hitchcock's Champagne is it -- in the link beccaj provided there is a very brief shot at 12:22 that could be the first part of the gag -- but there's no sign of the followup shot during the storm mentioned in the Scott Macdonald review linked by fings.
posted by theory at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2018
posted by theory at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2018
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posted by jessamyn at 6:38 PM on February 5, 2018