. . . a movie's title card. When Thomas Alva Edison says the title of one of his films is BUSTER AND TIGE PUTS A BALLOON VENDER OUT OF BUSINESS, neither the POTUS, or the Pope, or even IMDb has the right to re-title this flick "Buster and Tige Put a Balloon Vendor out of Business." Such snooty arrogance not only is historically inaccurate, but it insults the intelligence of movie viewers who have seen the actual film and therefore KNOW what its real title is! If Mr. Edison had WISHED for this piece to be named "Buster and Tige Put a Balloon Vendor out of Business," he would have hired a secretary fluent in the written English language, and SHE would have typed it up that way. No internet site should second guess Mr. Edison's staffing policies a century later, and impose their grammatical whims on the work of a man who's not around to defend the integrity of that work, since he died in 1932. As anyone who has seen the movie about young Tom Edison knows, Mickey Rooney skipped fourth grade English class to ride the rails and invent stuff in the mail car. Out of respect for the inventor of the American concrete home, we should leave the names and titles of Mr. Edison's films and inventions spelled the semi-literate way HE thought best!
4 Reviews
It seems like there should be someone who can read . . .
oscaralbert24 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Little Brat
boblipton5 July 2020
When a balloon vendor refuses to simply give Buster Brown a balloon, the boy sics his dog Tige on the man.
Actually, it's a bunch of dogs who attack the balloon man on a stage with New York's famous Flat Iron Building on a backdrop. The dogs have a lot of fun bouncing the balloons up in the air and playing catch with them.
I may be misremembering Buster Brown, or perhaps the character shifted in the half century between his invention at the beginning of the 20th Century, and my introduction to him half a century later as a child, but I don't remember him as being some mean-spirited and vindictive.
Actually, it's a bunch of dogs who attack the balloon man on a stage with New York's famous Flat Iron Building on a backdrop. The dogs have a lot of fun bouncing the balloons up in the air and playing catch with them.
I may be misremembering Buster Brown, or perhaps the character shifted in the half century between his invention at the beginning of the 20th Century, and my introduction to him half a century later as a child, but I don't remember him as being some mean-spirited and vindictive.
Edison's Buster Brown Series
Michael_Elliott12 September 2009
Buster and Tige Put a Balloon Vendor Out of Business (1904)
** (out of 4)
Edison's Buster Brown series was a group of films made to quickly cash in on the success of Richard Felton Outcault's comic strip. The films were quickly produced but Edison did send their best director to do them.
In BUSTER'S DOG TO THE RESCUE, the cook puts some cookies high up in a closet when Buster gets caught with the ladder trying to get them. He gets a spanking but thankfully his dog is able to climb up the ladder and bring the cookies down. BUSTER AND TIGE PUT A Balloon VENDOR OUT OF BUSINESS has Buster wanting a balloon but the dog Tige jumps on the seller, which causes all the balloons to fly off. BUSTER AND THE DUDE has the young Buster out with his mom and her friend. A man, with a dog, starts paying the women a lot of attention, which doesn't sit well with Buster who has Tige attack the man's dog. BUSTER MAKES ROOM FOR MAMA AT THE BARGAIN COUNTER has the boy shopping with mommy but there are too many women in their way. Tige is then made to do tricks so that the women will look at him and mommy can look at clothes. BUSTER'S REVENGE ON THE TRAMP finds the young boy wanting a snack but he can't reach it so he invites a tramp in to get it for him. The boy then tells his mom so that the tramp will get a beating.
I'm sure the comic strip was very popular back in the day and I'm sure these films made a lot of money for the Edison company but quality wasn't the final result. BUSTER'S DOG TO THE RESCUE is the best of the bunch due in large part to the dog who does a rather impressive trick of climbing up the ladder. The other four films pretty much show the kid Buster getting into one bad situation after another but none of them overly funny. Porter shot all five films during one take so that might make the film's interesting to some but for the most part there's nothing too special here.
** (out of 4)
Edison's Buster Brown series was a group of films made to quickly cash in on the success of Richard Felton Outcault's comic strip. The films were quickly produced but Edison did send their best director to do them.
In BUSTER'S DOG TO THE RESCUE, the cook puts some cookies high up in a closet when Buster gets caught with the ladder trying to get them. He gets a spanking but thankfully his dog is able to climb up the ladder and bring the cookies down. BUSTER AND TIGE PUT A Balloon VENDOR OUT OF BUSINESS has Buster wanting a balloon but the dog Tige jumps on the seller, which causes all the balloons to fly off. BUSTER AND THE DUDE has the young Buster out with his mom and her friend. A man, with a dog, starts paying the women a lot of attention, which doesn't sit well with Buster who has Tige attack the man's dog. BUSTER MAKES ROOM FOR MAMA AT THE BARGAIN COUNTER has the boy shopping with mommy but there are too many women in their way. Tige is then made to do tricks so that the women will look at him and mommy can look at clothes. BUSTER'S REVENGE ON THE TRAMP finds the young boy wanting a snack but he can't reach it so he invites a tramp in to get it for him. The boy then tells his mom so that the tramp will get a beating.
I'm sure the comic strip was very popular back in the day and I'm sure these films made a lot of money for the Edison company but quality wasn't the final result. BUSTER'S DOG TO THE RESCUE is the best of the bunch due in large part to the dog who does a rather impressive trick of climbing up the ladder. The other four films pretty much show the kid Buster getting into one bad situation after another but none of them overly funny. Porter shot all five films during one take so that might make the film's interesting to some but for the most part there's nothing too special here.
Kind of fun to watch though there isn't much in the way of plot.
planktonrules15 May 2014
This short begins on stage. While they try to make the viewer think they're in front of the Flatiron Building in New York, it's VERY obviously just a picture and you can see the seam where it meets the stage. Kind of sloppy even for 1904.
Buster and his mother are walking past a balloon* vendor. Soon, Tige AND some other obnoxious dogs show up and attack the balloon guy-- causing his balloons to go everywhere. Soon, the dogs are running about hitting the balloons. It's a nice trick but not a whole lot more to this one.
Like most shorts of the time, this one lacks a lot when it comes to plot and is so short that giving it a numerical score is almost impossible.
*These balloons are pretty strange--completely round and looking more like balls than balloons.
Buster and his mother are walking past a balloon* vendor. Soon, Tige AND some other obnoxious dogs show up and attack the balloon guy-- causing his balloons to go everywhere. Soon, the dogs are running about hitting the balloons. It's a nice trick but not a whole lot more to this one.
Like most shorts of the time, this one lacks a lot when it comes to plot and is so short that giving it a numerical score is almost impossible.
*These balloons are pretty strange--completely round and looking more like balls than balloons.
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