L'Arroseur Arrosé

L'Arroseur arrosé is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent comedy film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval. It was first screened on June 10, 1895. It has the distinction of being the earliest known instance of film comedy, as well as the first use of film to portray a fictional story. The film was originally known as "Le Jardinier" or "Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle", and is sometimes referred to in English as "The Tables Turned on the Gardener", and "The Sprinkler Sprinkled". Shot in Lyon in the spring of... 1895, the film portrays a simple practical joke in which a gardener is tormented by a boy who steps on the hose that the gardener is using to water his plants, cutting off the water flow. When the gardener tilts the nozzle up to inspect it, the boy releases the hose, causing the water to spray him. The gardener is stunned and his hat is knocked off, but he soon catches on. A chase ensues, both on and off-screen until the gardener catches the boy and administers a spanking.
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