Alfalfa Sees New York
by Paul Terry
Production and Distribution by J.R. Bray
1916, Bray Studios
An old farmer man makes his way to the Big Apple, and is so impressed he jumps out of his carriage before he can even pay fare. He is quickly spotted by a look-out-man for a local con organization, which he immediately falls prey to.
Once a beautiful woman, sent to swindle him, has gotten him liquored up to the point he dances on tables with upturned wine glasses on his head, she watches him fall to the ground - concussing himself - and empties his person of all valuables.
Unaware of his robbing, Alfalfa picks himself up, walks outside, and has mind-breaking hallucinations the likes of which would revoke even veteran LSD users ability to speak coherently for the rest of their lives.
He then passes out and is kidnapped in his drugged stupor by a stranger, who is an obvious street-rat, and tossed into a strange room with three other men. They play poker together for hours, while his kidnapper peeks through the door and watches and laughs to himself.
During this poker match, Alfalfa recruits the help of a cat-like animal, that intercepts cards being illegally handed from one man to the next, allowing him to sculpt a hand of full Aces, winning him the entire cash-pile. The animal then attacks the hanging lamp and it explodes. There is a fight in the dark, which Alfalfa emerges from victoriously.
Using his mind-powers, he teleports to the back of a train, where he smokes a cigar atop a pile of money, alongside his animal companion.
My opinion:
This animation is a string of barely connected shorts with about 30 frames each, and it doesn't make much use of the medium. The story is wild and fantastic, and very likely tickled the imagination of people who have never visited NYC, but really fails to hold up, aside from the physical gag that show up every now and then.
Not exactly enjoyable anymore, as it feels it was made to cash in on people's intrigue with NYC at the time, and hold no artistic merit when compared to other animations that actually made me laugh, and held my attention better.
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