Directed by F. Martin Duncan Release date August 1903 (1903-08) Country United Kingdom Director F. Martin Duncan Cinematography F. Martin Duncan | Produced by Charles Urban Running time 2.5 mins extant Initial release January 1904 (USA) Producer Charles Urban Cast F. Martin Duncan | |
 | ||
Production
company Charles Urban Trading Company Similar The Acrobatic Fly, Secrets of Nature, The Battle of the Somme, Britain Prepared, Scrooge - or - Marley's Ghost | ||
The Cheese Mites (1903) is a British short silent documentary film, produced by Charles Urban and directed by F. Martin Duncan.
Contents
Plot
A gentleman is put off his lunch when he holds up a magnifying glass and sees a microscopic view of the cheese mites in his Stilton cheese sandwich.
Production background
The film "was the sensation of the first public programme of scientific films in Britain shown at the Alhambra Music Hall in Leicester Square, London, in August 1903". According to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "its claim to being scientific lay in its being shot through a microscope, revealing to a lay audience sights that would normally only have been available to owners of microscopes."
Preservation status
A complete copy which includes an opening sequence, featuring F. Martin Duncan as the gentleman, was recently discovered uploaded to YouTube under a different title, and has now been acquired by the British Film Institute. Previously only the sequence showing the cheese mites had survived.