Mary Jane's Mishap; Or, Don't Fool with the Paraffin (Original title)Mary Jane's Mishap (Alternative title)
Date: 1903 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirector: G.A. Smith
Shotlist: COMEDY. Trick. A servant, Mary Jane, starts her early morning chores by attempting to light the fire and to polish a pair of boots. When she examines herself in the mirror she finds she has boot polish over her face. Meanwhile the fire has gone out. She pours paraffin into the grate and puts a match to it. The ensuing explosion projects her up the chimney and into the sky, from where her remains fall to earth. The headstone on her grave reads 'Here lies Mary Jane, who lighted the fire with parrafin'. An old lady and several maids weep in front of the grave. Mary Jane's ghost appears and fightens them off. Clutching a paraffin can, the ghost returns to the grave (248ft).
Genres: Comedy, Trick film
Subjects: Maids, Chimneys
Releases
Date: 1903Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SilentRuntime: 4 mins 10 secs - Length: 250 FeetLanguage: EnglishDistributor: Warwick Trading Company
Title: Mary Jane's Mishap: An early British film re-examinedAuthor: BARNES, John Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: A shot-by-shot breakdown of the film MARY-JANE'S MISHAP, including debate about when the film was actually made and comments about the print.
Date: 1903 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirector: G.A. Smith
Shotlist: COMEDY. Trick. A servant, Mary Jane, starts her early morning chores by attempting to light the fire and to polish a pair of boots. When she examines herself in the mirror she finds she has boot polish over her face. Meanwhile the fire has gone out. She pours paraffin into the grate and puts a match to it. The ensuing explosion projects her up the chimney and into the sky, from where her remains fall to earth. The headstone on her grave reads 'Here lies Mary Jane, who lighted the fire with parrafin'. An old lady and several maids weep in front of the grave. Mary Jane's ghost appears and fightens them off. Clutching a paraffin can, the ghost returns to the grave (248ft).
Genres: Comedy, Trick film
Subjects: Maids, Chimneys
Releases
Date: 1903Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SilentRuntime: 4 mins 10 secs - Length: 250 FeetLanguage: EnglishDistributor: Warwick Trading Company
Articles held in BFI Reuben Library
(1)
In: Film History v16 n1 2004 Pages: 54-59Title: Mary Jane's Mishap: An early British film re-examinedAuthor: BARNES, John Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: A shot-by-shot breakdown of the film MARY-JANE'S MISHAP, including debate about when the film was actually made and comments about the print.