This film is part of Free
The "?" Motorist
The lengths that some people will go to, just to avoid a speeding ticket… in this case to Saturn and back.
Overview
This eccentrically-titled Robert Paul comedy - made by trick specialist WR Booth - is one of the most iconic of early British films. As Cecil Hepworth did in Explosion of a Motor Car (1900), Booth uses a stop-and-substitute gag, using dummy body parts, for the sequence when a car runs over a policeman. Booth, however, takes it further. As the policeman reassembles himself (Terminator-style!) and pursues the car to a dead end, it drives straight up a building and up to the stars, where it drives around a very Georges Melies-style celestial scene before dropping back to earth and the magistrates' court.
Related
Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge
Non-Fiction 1896 1 mins Silent Location: Blackfriars Br
Top-hatted pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic pass over Blackfriars Bridge in London
Aberdeen University Quarter Centenary Celebrations Aberdeen University Quarter Centenary Celebrations
Non-Fiction 1906 32 mins Silent Location: Aberdeen
Edward VII and Queen Alexandra open new buildings at Marischal College, Aberdeen
Drat That Boy! Drat That Boy!
Comedy 1904 2 mins Silent
A boy being supervised by his grandmother sees a chance for mischief
Extraordinary Cab Accident Extraordinary Cab Accident
Trick film 1903 1 mins Silent
A comic traffic incident
On Falling - Exclusive Q&A On Falling - Exclusive Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
Writer-director Laura Carreira talks to Nia Childs about her debut feature, On Falling.
Layla - Exclusive Q&A Layla - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 27 mins
Writer, director and performer Amrou Al-Kadhi talks to Rico Johnson-Sinclair about their debut feature.
All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 28 mins
Payal Kapadia discusses her Cannes prize-winning and Bafta-nominated drama with Ashanti Omkar.
Khichdi Khichdi
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 16 mins
The interwoven stories of four best friends who reunite in the UK, thirty-five years after training together as nurses during their teens in Ferozepur, Punjab.
Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology
Documentary 2023 15 mins
A satirical take on the healthcare service announcements of the 1960s and 70s.
Every Moment Counts Every Moment Counts
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 9 mins
A short animation that offers a window into the world of children’s palliative care.