The Boxing Cats (Prof. Welton's) (1894)

Friday

Feb262010

A film, which would surely run into trouble with animal rights activists nowadays, is also one of the most entertaining works of the early silent cinema. The Boxing Cats stars vaudeville artist Henry Welton and two of his trained cats, caught in an intense boxing match. Ironically, the feline actors perform what has to be the most effective match shot by the Edison Manufacturing Company.

The catfight is staged on a small-improvised ring, presenting thus a curious setting for one of the first close-ups. Welton’s head is visible just outside the ring, reacting with passion, akin to a real boxing coach.

The frame composition allows a clear view of the action, but also tests the possibility of the camera to capture a distorted reality. By filling the entire image, the miniature boxing ring becomes a visual trick that disables the viewer to properly identify the particularities of the background where the action takes place. The human head may give an idea of physical proportion, but in this case it only ads to the confusion created by the shot, as it does not easily relate to the size of the two cats. In effect, shots like these gave birth to rudimentary special effects.

Taking the technical details aside, The Boxing Cats is still entertaining after more than a century. The effect might be due to the pace of the action, which is closer to Keystone comedies, than early experimental cinema. The audacity of using animals may not have been as noticeable at the time of the shooting, when cockfights and dogfights were still legal betting games. Yet, Welton’s cats are not only engaged in the fight, but almost seem to be aware that they are the subject of entertainment, effectively playing-up their performance. It is not surprising then, that animals found it rather easy to integrate in the motion picture business, just by playing up on the success of such a fine presence.