4k, 50fps, colorized 1895. L’Arroseur Arros ,The Waterer Watered. Lumiere Brothers

Starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval. First screened on June 10, 1895. It is the earliest known instance of film comedy, the first use of film to portray a fictional story, and the first use of a promotional film poster. The film was originally known as Le Jardinier (“The Gardener“) or Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle, and is sometimes referred to in English as The Tables Turned on the Gardener, and The Sprinkler Sprinkled. The entire film lasts only 45 seconds, but this simple bit of slapstick may be the forerunner of all subsequent film comedy. The 1896 film version replaces the boy with a teenager and the spanking action is substituted with a kick in the rump.