The Magician Fisherman (1913)
A magician passes on his weary rounds of entertaining to entertain himself, when he gets a letter from a country friend asking him to go fishing. He and his assistant load up with considerable baggage, including magic-paraphernalia and a large quantity of "snake medicine." After they leave the railroad they are forced to take a stage to the distant fishing ground. Their vehicle breaks down in the far country, and the landlord of the hotel, who is a "smart Alec" in his way, thinking that all fishermen are green, and this particular pair are "suckers," puts up a job on the magician and his assistant. They get two carpenter trusses, place a horse-trough on them, and fill it with eight or ten tuba of water, after which they tack on a card marked, "No fishing allowed." The landlord and his jocular assistants then hide behind a bush in the immediate neighborhood. Billy, the assistant, is tired out, but Zamloch, the magician, urges him on. Billy is too weary to walk and sits down to smoke, while the wily magician with half an eye, sees that someone is trying to have game with him, and responds with interest. He gets a rod, puts on a line, baits it and casts the line into the water-trough. After waiting a little while he gets a bite, jerks the rod, but finds the bait is gone. He puts on more bait, drops the line in the water and catches a pound carp; then he catches a two-pound fish, a three-pound fish, a four-pound, and still larger. The jocular landlord behind the bush, in the meantime, is the most astonished man in the country; even the sleepy assistant is beginning "to sit up and take notice." The landlord, who has observed this proceeding with envy and amazement, gets a line in the trough himself from behind the bush and catches some rare game, varying from an old boot to a wreck of an umbrella, and finally a live snake that almost gets him when he hauls it out. When Billy sees the landlord flop the snake into the air, he runs to his rescue with a demijohn of "snake medicine." The landlord takes a long pull and resumes his fishing. Next time he gets a dead cat with a note tied around its neck labeled, "Catfish," and in response to a final throw he brings up a demon dressed in red. This brings the landlord to his knees in a frightened state. Then the magician shows his audience that the trough, after all, is really empty, so the joke is on the jokers.
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Domestic
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International
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Worldwide
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GenresComedy
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Charles H. France | Director |
| William Nicholas Selig | Producer |
