From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen (1903)

Сюжет кино: Aside from whatever slight interest it held or holds for its risqué subject matter, there are a couple of smaller points of some technical interest in this American Mutoscope & Biograph feature. This kind of 'blue' movie was much more common in the era than many modern movie fans might realize, and while it's not much to look at now, a couple of technical points are worth noting, at least in passing, as examples of the kinds of things that film-makers of the era had to consider.
The setup presents a woman as she enters her dressing room in a show girl costume, and then proceeds to change into a much skimpier costume, presumably for a burlesque act. At a strategically chosen moment, she retreats behind a screen, with her arm occasionally emerging. Most of it is not particularly provocative, and really only a couple of gestures or movements really 'work' in terms of its intended purpose.
As with comedic and dramatic material, with this kind of movie also the film-makers of the time were still learning how to achieve a desired effect without the use of sound, color, and other resources that would have worked on the stage.
It is also immediately noticeable that the woman's face and head are almost completely cut off for the majority of the screen time. This almost had to be unintentional, and it was most likely a result of the limited experience with filming an individual in middle-range close-up, trying to fit the whole person into the camera field. Techniques for this too would be improved considerably within a few years.