This is now a curio of the early 1900s that is only of interest for its curiosity value, but in its day it might have looked rather exotic to its first audiences. It was one of a fairly large number of movies taken by an Edison Company film crew on a trip through the Mediterranean regions in the spring of 1903 (most of these seem now to be lost). No doubt many of these features offered American audiences the first genuine sights of the world overseas, and so they may have served a purpose in that respect.
The footage features a monkey who dances and does other tricks at the prompting of its trainer. The monkey wears a strange-looking costume, and another odd sight is the goat in the background, who balances himself on some sort of tripod all the while that the monkey is doing his act.
This kind of movie no longer really has much to offer in itself, but it serves as a sample of its era in cinema history. One of the earliest uses of movies was to show audiences footage of things that they would be unlikely ever to see first-hand.
The footage features a monkey who dances and does other tricks at the prompting of its trainer. The monkey wears a strange-looking costume, and another odd sight is the goat in the background, who balances himself on some sort of tripod all the while that the monkey is doing his act.
This kind of movie no longer really has much to offer in itself, but it serves as a sample of its era in cinema history. One of the earliest uses of movies was to show audiences footage of things that they would be unlikely ever to see first-hand.