This film is part of Free
Lizars, Edinburgh
Mitchell and Kenyon capture comedian Tom E. Murray at Lizars Theatre in Edinburgh on 12 December 1904.
Overview
Mitchell and Kenyon were commissioned to film the well-known comedian, Tom E. Murray by Lizars' Imperial Bioscope of Edinburgh, presumably to promote the pantomime Forty Thieves that he was appearing in, during the 1904/5 season at The Royal Theatre in Glasgow. His comic act here displays his range of facial expressions as he enacts one half of a lively phone conversation in costume as Ali Baba.
Apparently Mitchell and Kenyon filmed this comic sketch for Lizars Theatre in Edinburgh on 12 December 1904, although the pantomime Forty Thieves in which Tom Murray was starring at The Royal in Glasgow. Here he is performing a comedy sketch involving a misunderstanding on the telephone, a new form of communication at that time, which inspired several early comedies. He is a charismatic comedian. Frankie Howard fans might trace a lineage here. We are grateful to J. F. Derry of Edinburgh who identified Murray and has been kind enough to share his research.
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