This 8 minute, 41.37-second long Edison short--LAUGHING GAS (1907) probably is the most inflated testimonial to the properties of nitrous oxide in the 241 years since original English synthesizer Joseph Priestley dubbed it "phlogisticated nitrous air" in 1772. Though Priestley created "laughing gas" by heating iron filings dampened with nitric acid, Edison seems to be doing it by showing his lead actress, Bertha Regustus (who appears a good candidate for being the namesake of the most famous WWI artillery piece a decade later) some of his earlier shorts between takes during the shooting of LAUGHING GAS. Other than THE MORNING BATH and WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TUNNEL, LAUGHING GAS is one of the few Edison titles featuring Black Americans WITHOUT the word "watermelon" included. If I had to guess which Edison flick could get Bertha rolling in the aisles as she does here, my pick would be UNCLE TOM'S CABIN--especially the "paddlewheeler race" scene. Totally incomprehensible with it's underwhelming inter-titles, TOM's tiny toy boats--one of which blows up and burns mid-river for about nine days!--would be enough to give anyone a good guffaw.
Review of Laughing Gas
