[Bounci]

One of two videos of some of the last I have of Johann Schwarzer's short films before I post some of the Hollywood Pre-Codes next week. The first tonight is called The Abduction of the Slave Women from 1907 (admittedly the title of this post gives that away), which sees a gypsy girl dance for some Arabs before she is warned to flee because some slave traders are coming. It then cuts to said girl with pals deciding to go for a dip in the lake, having a jolly good time before said slave traders come and cart them off. There's a rather startling end scene where one of the women escapes and jumps in the water, only to be shot at by the slavers. The fact she is flailing about in the water still at the end gives me hope they only winged her, but it's a piece of realism rather out of keeping with the usual jollity in these shorts. The video to follow in the next post involves a slave market, so I thought I'd post both as companion videos for each other. Anyway, enjoy.