I like how the guy lays down in front of the car and motions for it to run him over near the end, when he believes he's not going to succeed in his quest to marry by noon to collect an inheritance. It's cool that it's the woman (Marian Swayne) who actually has the money in this relationship and is pulling the strings, and the guy is somewhat "steamrolled" into marriage, which director Alice Guy-Blaché cleverly shows us symbolically. She's a little heavy-handed in how often she shows us the clock, and there's also an unfortunate joke where as he searches desperately for any woman to marry him, he taps on a veiled woman's back, only to discover she's black, and then immediately reacts by running away. It's a small moment but reflects the miscegenation laws and widespread view of white superiority of the period, and is repugnant.
I'm not sure who first came up with the concept for the story line, whether that was Guy-Blaché or someone earlier, but it would certainly be repeated afterwards, e.g. just three weeks later, in the short 'Jane Marries,' and then in countless others over the years. You may also recognize it from Buster Keaton's film 'Seven Chances' in 1925, based on a play from 1916 - though it's sadly ironic that Keaton would also include a touch of racism with a stupid character in blackface. Just as in that film, if you can look past those painful moments, this is an amusing little short.
I'm not sure who first came up with the concept for the story line, whether that was Guy-Blaché or someone earlier, but it would certainly be repeated afterwards, e.g. just three weeks later, in the short 'Jane Marries,' and then in countless others over the years. You may also recognize it from Buster Keaton's film 'Seven Chances' in 1925, based on a play from 1916 - though it's sadly ironic that Keaton would also include a touch of racism with a stupid character in blackface. Just as in that film, if you can look past those painful moments, this is an amusing little short.