. . . and this was considered "family entertainment" by light bulb guy Thomas Edison during a period when the extremities of chairs and tables needed to be referred to as "limbs" in polite society (since a woman blurting out "I just bumped my knee on a table LEG" would be judged harshly for employing such a scandalously racy figure of speech). Seen today, SANDOW No. 1 could only be viewed as a truncated half minute TV commercial for some brand of adult underpants, such as Depends. An otherwise naked guy twists this way and that, with the pitchman (if this could have been a talkie) intoning, "Look, no matter which way Teddy totters, he doesn't leak!" This "Sandow" guy's parents must have left him with a pretty big chip on his shoulder when they christened him "Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller." (That's even worse than George Alexander Louis Hanover--oops, I mean Windsor!) Whenever his parents took this boy named everything but Sue to the museum, young Wilhelm yearned to be one of the nude statues, immune to the laughter of passing schoolgirls. (See his biography here on IMDb.) The crying shame of it is that in the 21st century he could have buffed up, crossed illegally into China, shouted "Long live the Dalai Lama!" and before you could say "Jack Robinson" he'd have been shot in the back of the head and plasticized for museum exhibition--which was his ultimate dream all along!

This is the first Edison film that actually features a 'celiberity', which makes this a bit more than just another typical usual Edison Manufacturing Company film, by William K.L. Dickson.The man in the film was Eugen Sandow (real name Friederich Wilhelm Mueller). He claimed to have been the strongest person alive at the time and who knows, maybe he was. I mean, it was not like bodybuilding was an extremely popular or common thing back in 1894. He was quite a celebrity back in his time and had friends in the highs societies of which Thomas Edison also appeared to be one of. He also seemed to be a generous person, who also contributed a lot to the world of bodybuilding. Some of his influences and ideas are even still notable today.He takes lots of different positions within this short film, exhibiting his muscular physique. Sometimes he goes a bit out of frame with his arms, which of course obviously was not intended and sort of makes you question if Edison and Co. were also happy with the result.Even though he was only 27 at the time, he looked much older. He also died at a fairly young age of 58 years. But who knows, perhaps he looks old in this because the image quality of course also isn't the highest.Perhaps historical a significant film because of the person that's featuring in it, but from a more experimentally significant kind of view, this film doesn't add an awful lot.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The historical background to this Edison Company footage of strongman Eugen Sandow is much more interesting than the movie itself. In its day, it was a triumph of opportunistic self-promotion, both by the subject and by the film studio, and it became the first of many Edison features to showcase the era's entertainment celebrities.Sandow was renowned for his formidable physical strength, but unfortunately he does not perform any feats here that might provide evidence of it. Instead, he spends his screen time flexing his muscles and assuming a variety of positions that highlight them. To be honest, it's rather boring, but that is admittedly a matter of personal taste, and many of its viewers probably enjoyed it for its own sake.According to film historian Charles Musser, Sandow waived his appearance fee in return for the chance to shake hands publicly with Edison, which provided lavish press coverage that helped both of them to share in one another's celebrity. They each certainly understood what they were doing, and thus this short feature is quite interesting as a demonstration that the commercial aspects of the movies have been part of the field right from the beginning.

This is a 20-second long Edison Company short, filmed March 6, 1894 at Edison's Black Maria studio, of the man widely considered to be the first modern body builder, Eugen (or "Eugene") Sandow, who flexes for the camera.Sandow, born Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller in 1867 in Prussia, had worked as a sideshow strongman, often for famed showman Florenz Ziegfeld. In later years he was the personal fitness instructor for King George V. He authored a number of books on health and fitness and is credited with doing much to start the "health movement" that continues to this day.Sandow was notable for believing that strongmen shouldn't just present displays of strength, but show off their bodies as works of art. Conceiving of his body as sculptural artwork, Sandow looked to classical Greek and Roman statuary for an ideal human form to emulate.Ziegfeld put together a traveling show called "Sandow's Trocadero Vaudevilles"--"Trocadero" after the Chicago nightclub Ziegfeld's father opened in 1893, hoping to capitalize on the city's upcoming World's Fair. In the roadshow, as in appearances at the Trocadero, Sandow presented "Muscle Display Performances", as he does in this short. He also performed the usual feats of strength, although he would occasionally execute odd stunts such as holding a pony above his head.An amusing incident on the roadshow occurred in San Francisco, where it was publicized that Sandow would wrestle a "man-eating lion". Thousands showed up, but it was obvious that the animal had been drugged--it could barely function. Despite such fiascos, Ziegfeld and Sandow traveled for nearly two years.So Sandow, the short--the copyright title is actually "Souvenir strip of the Edison Kinetoscope (Sandow, the modern Hercules)"--has much historical significance. As a work of art, it isn't quite as successful as some other Edison shorts, such as Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1894). The picture is broached by light seeping in from either side, probably due to some technical problem with the early cameras. Less forgivable, the framing of Sandow is too close, resulting in poses being cut off; you can often not see Sandow's hands, and it somewhat ruins the statue-like effect that was the point of Sandow's performance.But Sandow is impressive enough physically, and in light of the historical interest, both because of its place in the history of film and Sandow and Ziegfeld's lives, it's certainly worth the few seconds it takes to watch.