Young master Marcel Perez talks his fond parents into buying him a bicycle. However, when they purchase the machine, he doesn't wait for instruction, but hops on and takes off, with his folks in close pursuit.
Perez had done this before, as the anonymous comic of 1907's THE NEAR-SIGHTED CYCLIST. The differences are striking. The cuts are quicker and the falls marginally less life-threatening. the former is undoubtedly due to changes in the pacing of comedies. The situation is more familiar, so it needs less of a set-up. The latter.... well, Italian slapstick would become more bone-breaking, but for the moment, Perez was starring in a series of short comedies for the production company, and a few months in hospital would interrupt the flow of building up the catalogue, while Perez's death would mean going to the trouble of hiring another comic.
Perez had done this before, as the anonymous comic of 1907's THE NEAR-SIGHTED CYCLIST. The differences are striking. The cuts are quicker and the falls marginally less life-threatening. the former is undoubtedly due to changes in the pacing of comedies. The situation is more familiar, so it needs less of a set-up. The latter.... well, Italian slapstick would become more bone-breaking, but for the moment, Perez was starring in a series of short comedies for the production company, and a few months in hospital would interrupt the flow of building up the catalogue, while Perez's death would mean going to the trouble of hiring another comic.
