''The Thieving Hand'' (1908) is a

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

silent short produced in the United States. As a

trick film In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects. History The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain ...

, it is known for "simple but flawless"

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

. No director is credited in the film. While some sources say it was J. Stuart Blackton, other sources say the director is unknown.

Plot

A one-armed street peddler, who sells pencils from a cup, receives a new arm from a kindly stranger at a strange store that specializes in "Limb" replacements. The new arm has a mind of its own, though, and brings the man nothing but trouble. The peddler is arrested for thievery and thrown into jail. The story concludes with the arm crawling back to its rightful owner, a one-armed convicted thief in the same jail wearing stripped pajamas. At this point the film abruptly ends, but missing frames from the film show the pencil vendor is set free, and is free of the cursed arm.

Film

The film was shot on location in

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and released on February 1, 1908. It was among the early films of

Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

, and was one of

Paul Panzer Paul Wolfgang Panzerbeiter (November 3, 1872 – August 16, 1958), known professionally as Paul Panzer, was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1905 and 1952. Biography Panzer was born in Würzburg ...

's early films, he remained active in film until the 1950s. No director is credited in the film. Some sources say the director is unknown while other sources attribute it to J. Stuart Blackton. None of the sources describe how they arrived at their conclusion, nor acknowledge a difference of opinion with other sources. It is anthologized in the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

set ''

Treasures from American Film Archives The ''Treasures from American Film Archives'' series of DVDs is produced by the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), a nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress in 1997. The NFPF publishes these DVD sets, with accompanying bo ...

'' (2000), compiled by the

National Film Preservation Foundation The National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is an independent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage. Growing from a national planning effort led by the Library of Congress, the NFPF began o ...

. It is a digital reproduction from a 35mm print owned by

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

, which has the only known surviving copy. In this release, the film's music score is an uncredited modern rendition of the comic

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

song " The Yama Yama Man", from the play ''The Three Twins'', a hit on Broadway in 1908. The final frames in the final scene are missing in the sole known surviving copy of the film. They show the pencil vendor set free from jail after all becomes clear he was the innocent victim of the arm's true owner. It was reviewed in ''

Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. ...

'', which oddly criticized the surreal film for its lack of realism, noting that criminal suspects are not housed with convicts until after they are convicted. However the reviewer concludes it is "a fine

, full of ingenuity and good quality".

Influences

According to Ryan Sweet, the plot has similarities to earlier stories that may have influenced the makers of the film. The street ballad "The Thief's Arm", collected by John Ashton in 1888, tells the story of an amputee who is fitted with a new arm that has an agency of its own, like in the film it steals without the owner's direction. Another possible influence according to Sweet was the popular song "The Steam Arm" from 1835, about an amputee fitted with a steam-powered limb that he can't control and that goes on a death and destruction rampage.

References

External links

*
''The Thieving Hand''
from ''Treasures from American Film Archives'' (includes music)
"Program Notes"
from ''Treasures from American Film Archives'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Thieving Hand, The 1908 films American black-and-white films American silent short films Films directed by J. Stuart Blackton Films shot in New York City Vitagraph Studios short films Articles containing video clips 1908 comedy films 1900s fantasy comedy films American fantasy comedy films 1900s American films Silent American comedy films Trick films