User Reviews

May Clark is trying to read a book at the beach, when three men aproach and attempt to woo her. A chase ensues.

This short comedy from Hepworth is notable mostly for the rather eccentric means of pursuit. Not only does Miss Clark climb on a roof, take a carriage and bicycle to elude her her pursuers (one of whom uses a pedicab), but she makes use of a bathing machine.

For those of you who have not studied Gilbert & Sullivan, a bathing machine was a cabana on wheels. To preserve the modesty of seaside bathers, one entered the contraption on land. It was wheeled into the water. The occupant changed to swimming gear in privacy and thence entered the water. This prevented anyone from seeing a young woman's revealing swim suit .... "revealing", that is, by Victorian standards, an era when ladies had no legs, merely limbs, and furniture's "limbs" were covered.

Filmed at the holiday resort of Bognor Regis, this comedy chase film looks to have come direct from one of those saucy postcards of the time.

The story revolves around a young middle class looking girl reading a book on the beach when she is interrupted by three randy suitors, who seem to take no for an answer, & chase her around the resort using a variety of transports. The girl played by May Clark, famous for playing Alice in the oldest surviving version of Alice in Wonderland by Cecil Hepworth, is certainly game, & despite wearing Edwardian long dresses of the day, certainly gets around. In fact later on you see she certainly keeps in good shape. The main suitor is a tall rugged looking Scotsman, who you know is Scottish, due to being in a kilt, whilst the other two are more like two dirty old men, so which one will she go for.

The film is well made for what it is, & the actors are good, particularly Miss Clark, & all seem to be enjoying themselves making this little romp, which I expect was well received at the time. If you are looking for a saucy film of the Edwardian days, this one is worth wasting a few minutes on.

May Clark - fresh from the first ever Alice in Wonderland four years before - appears in a short film that might have almost been a Benny Hill sketch from the 1970s or 1980s.

Today it looks pretty awful as three lecherous men - one a Scot in full highland dress - interrupt and then chase a young woman who had been doing no more than read a book on the beach. For some unaccountable reason she ends up going off with one of them - maybe to escape the other two?

However, filmed likely all on one day in Bognor Regis it is a piece of a lost world. A few knowing spectators gurn at the action, a dog swims into frame at one point - clearly no second takes here!

We also see a bicycle shop, several bikes in a chase, one with an invalid trailer - but above all we see a bathing machine, and the men who manned it by the pier.

The Edwardian world with Edwardian sensibilities and Edwardian humour.