Maker: Frederick S. Armitage for American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.
Original format: 35mm silent film 1.33:1
Courtesy: Paper Print Collection, The Library of Congress
Technical note: Visible artifacts reflect duplication of original 35mm paper print.

The viewing of strong men (and women) running through their extraordinary musculature routines was ever fascinating and made the transgressive googling of naked bodies an acceptable form of popular entertainment for motion pictures. -Bruce Posner

Frederick S. Armitage (1874-1933), an innovative cameraman-director for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. (c. 1899-1905) and the Edison Company, made an early attempt to combine film and sound in A Gay Old Boy, 1899 and several prototype "special effects" films featuring innovative cinematography and printing techniques. -Paul Spehr