The Unappreciated Joke (1903) User Reviews

Possibly the movie industry's first example of product placement

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 25 May 2009]

This short joke film made by Edison was shot on the same set as that used on the same year's Street Car Chivalry, and possibly used the same actors. In this one two men seated together share a laugh over a joke in a newspaper before one of the men, unnoticed by his friend leaves the coach. His place is taken by a stout woman who doesn't take kindly to being slapped in the chest by the first man as he laughs uncontrollably at another joke. If you were in any doubt as to who made this film just take a look at the adverts on the wall above the actors: one of which clearly advertises Edison's Kinetoscopes, the camera/projector invented by the Edison company. I wonder whether this is cinema's first example of product placement? Either way, no doubt Tedg would appreciate this early example of folding...

Well, they don't make 'em like they used to...and that's NOT a terrible thing!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 22 August 2018]

In the early days of cinema, filmmakers and audiences alike had no idea about the power and scope of films. Up until about 1910, almost every film lasted but at most 2-4 minutes and the action was incredibly lame. These were much less movies by today's standards, as they usually had no scripts and were often showing ordinary events of the day...such as a lady feeding a baby, a train arriving at the station or limp jokes. This would fall in the latter category. While back in 1903 folks might have been rolling in the aisles as they watched, today you are just amazed how dull it all is. There are many wonderful exceptions (such as the films of Georges Méliès...but he was definitely the exception.

In "The Unappreciated Joke", the plot is simple. A loud and boorish man gets on a trolley* and begins showing his friend next to him some sort of funny magazine. What he doesn't notice is that the friend leaves and a lady sits down next to him...and he continues to poke and slap his 'friend' next to him to show him some funny story...and the lady is not amused.

That's really all there is to it. A very typical sort of film of the day....short, brief and with a single joke that did NOT leave me laughing.

*The trolley is obviously a set...typical of the day.

Overacted, even by the standards of the day.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 20 March 2014]

Although the summary says 'a stout man', there is not fat or rotund guy in this short. A man enters a trolley and sits next to a friend. They both begins looking at a newspaper together and are laughing up a storm at some comics. However, unknown to the guy with the paper, his friend leaves and a woman sits next to him--with comical results.

I am not going to give "The Unappreciated Joke" a numerical score. Mostly this is due to the brevity of this and practically all films of the period. At a minute long, this is NOT a short film by the standards of 1903--almost all films were very, very brief. And, as such, it's really hard to give them a rating. The other problem is that the acting is so overdone here--a problem that was often a problem at the time as well. Subtle was definitely NOT in at the time!