The Water Nymph (1912)
*** (out of 4)
Historic film as this was the first one released through Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios. In the film Mack takes his girlfriend (Mabel Normand) to the beach where his father (Ford Sterling) is also at. The father doesn't realize that this girl belongs to his son so he begins hitting up on her. THE WATER NYMPH has several interesting aspects to it other than just the fact it was the first from the studio. The funny thing is that there's a sequence where Normand puts on her bathing suit and goes out to jump off a diving board. Apparently this sequence was so popular that it gave Sennett the idea of forming his beauties. It's certainly funny to watch this sequence today because the bathing suit would be like a full dress compared to what we see today. The film has a pretty good, fast pace to it that actually makes it go by rather quickly. I thought Sterling was quite funny in the role of the flirtatious father and Normand comes off good too. Fans of Sennett's brand of humor should enjoy this one even if the majority of the running time just features Normand jumping off a diving board.
*** (out of 4)
Historic film as this was the first one released through Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios. In the film Mack takes his girlfriend (Mabel Normand) to the beach where his father (Ford Sterling) is also at. The father doesn't realize that this girl belongs to his son so he begins hitting up on her. THE WATER NYMPH has several interesting aspects to it other than just the fact it was the first from the studio. The funny thing is that there's a sequence where Normand puts on her bathing suit and goes out to jump off a diving board. Apparently this sequence was so popular that it gave Sennett the idea of forming his beauties. It's certainly funny to watch this sequence today because the bathing suit would be like a full dress compared to what we see today. The film has a pretty good, fast pace to it that actually makes it go by rather quickly. I thought Sterling was quite funny in the role of the flirtatious father and Normand comes off good too. Fans of Sennett's brand of humor should enjoy this one even if the majority of the running time just features Normand jumping off a diving board.