Amann the Great Impersonator

Quick-change artist Ludwig Amann performs parts in the notorious 'Dreyfus Affair'

German-born Ludwig Amann would have been performing in London when he was captured in this film by WKL Dickson for the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company. In this fragment of his 'man of many faces' act, Amann performs scenes from the notorious 'Dreyfus Affair', which revealed the scale of antisemitism in the French state.

Amann plays, in turn, the great novelist Emile Zola and the man he is defending, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, falsely accused and convicted of spying for the Germans. Between these two, Amann makes a brief appearance as himself. Dickson's unique 68mm film stock allows us to see the performance in every detail - down to the line of Zola's wig.