| The Kiss in the Tunnel | |
|---|---|
Screencap from the film |
|
| Directed by | George Albert Smith |
| Produced by | George Albert Smith |
| Starring | Laura Bayley George Albert Smith |
| Cinematography | George Albert Smith |
| Release date(s) | September 1899 |
| Running time | 1 min 3 secs |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Silent |
The Kiss in the Tunnel is a 1899 film British short silent comedy film, produced and directed by George Albert Smith, showing a couple sharing a brief kiss as their train passes through a tunnel, which is said to mark the beginnings of narrative editing. The director, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "felt that some extra spice was called for," in the then-popular 'phantom ride' genre, which featured shots taken from the front of a moving train, "and devised a shot showing a brief, almost furtive moment of passion between two passengers, taking advantage of the brief onset of darkness." Just this middle shot was offered by The Warwick Trading Company to exhibitors, who were advised, "to splice it into train footage that they almost certainly would own from previous programmes."[1][2]
Screenonline reviewer Michael Brooke points out that "the lighting here is totally unrealistic - we can see everything that's going on," and, "no attempt has been made at realism in the setting - the "carriage is very obviously a painted flat that has been decorated with various props: luggage, parasols and so on, though the camera has been made to sway from side to side to create the illusion of movement." Nonetheless, according to David Fisher, this three-shot film (as recontsructed by the BFI) is, "beginnings of narrative editing."[1][2]
The film was remade under the same title by Bamforth and Company the same year, although they, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "adopted a rather less stylised and noticeably more passionate approach to the brief encounter of the title."[1]