Revised list of high-class original motion picture films (1908)

COMEDY. U. D. 3174. THE NEAR-SIGHTED CYCEIST. Price, $40.08. Approximate Length, 334 feet. Rollicking fun and thrilling adventure from start to finish. Novel, exciting, humorous, sensational. A perfect gem. All that we could say in praise of this fascinating subject would fall far short of the realization of its charm and humor. For novelty of treatment, excellence of staging, daring of the chief character, perfect nerve-thrilling realism, and freedom from anything calculated to offend the most fastidious, no series published bythis or any other house can approach "The Near-Sighted Cyclist." The cyclist is dispatched upon an important errand, an'd his humorous and alarming adventures by the way form the subject of this series. Misadventure follows misadventure with great frequency, but the cyclist comes up smiling every time, mounts his machine, and again resumes his journey. Accidents which would maim or kill an ordinary mortal serve only to spur him on to fresh exertions in a mad search for physical inconveniences and dangers, which always present themselves. It may indeed be predicted of the hero that he will either die peacefully in his bed or end his career through slipping on a piece .of orange peel, or swallowing a pin. Only an ordinary and simple ending would be appropriate after such a strenuous life. Certainly lie will never be hanged or drowned. He charges at full speed a horse-drawn tram car, and is upset. He attacks the double windows of a corner shop, to fall into & basket of eggs on the other side. He bodily upsets a donkey cart, and a driver. He is precipitated into and disorganizes a party of men and women enjoying refreshment at an open-air cafe. He is thrown into a deep excavation in the road, and, colliding with the parapet of a bridge, is thrown over and falls forty feet into a swiftly-flowing river, to be fished out, and remount his machine. Finally, he appears in full view of the audience, a sorry spectacle of mud, eggs, water and other accumulations, but wearing a grin of triumph which augurs well for his future. Order of Pictures: Employer rings up messenger whom he dispatches upon an errand. Messenger, very short-sighted, manages to decipher the address, and rides away on a bicycle. He upsets himself and a road sweeper, who trounces him. Regaining his machine, he next charges, full-tilt, a horse-drawn car coming from an opposite direction. Calamity seems certain, but he crawls from among the horses' feet, again secures his machine, and departs. A corner shop with a double plate-glass front next obstructs the cyclist. Another charge, and he is thrown through both windows and lands in a basket of eggs. Results may be imagined, but the cyclist is unhurt. The road is up. Men excavating for sewers are alarmed by the advent of our cyclist who, with his machine, takes a violent and enforced header into the deep hole. He is hauled out, and while the men are occupied with the bicycle, he again falls in, and is fished out a second time. The merry cyclist next charges a fruit store and a customer. Destruction of property, loss of temper (not the cyclist's) and great confusion follow. After a retributive cuffing, he again mounts his marvelous machine. But only to run into a donkey cart, which he upsets, with its attendant donkey and driver. The donkey, startled, makes off with the shattered cart and the undamaged bicycle. Having recovered his machine, the messenger merrily mounts, but soon causes further grief to a party of innocent men and women who are partaking of refreshment at an open-air cafe\ His pace and sudden stoppage project him bodily upon the heads of the surprised and unoffending party, and a general fall and scramble result. He is next seen scorching across a bridge spanning a swiftly flowing river. He does not see the parapet of the bridge, against which he dashes with great force, the impact throwing him over the parapet into the sheer depth of 40 feet, where he is seen to strike the swirling waters — a risky performance, forming a thrilling 114