Works by Alf Collins (4)

Runaway Match/Marriage by Motor

Papa's attempt to bring back his eloping daughter is foiled by car troubles, in what is credited as the first (extremely brief) film car chase. But everyone's happy in the end. In between we get this close shot of hands and not much else. It seems odd to say a 5-minute film was too long, but watching the clock was more entertaining than watching the film. Thankfully, the added music is gorgeous.

The Pickpocket

Man picks pocket, cops chase: a simple premise, developed to become a pioneering work in the genre of hilarious 'so-bad-it's-good' cinema.

Raid on a Coiner's Den

After an intriguing emblematic shot, the coiners are shown hard at work, though at least one is a bit jittery. His fear turns out to be a premonition, as the heat swarms in while the coiners are out. Strangely, the leader of the raid then trades in his supervisory role to go undercover in the den. But when he tries to make the arrest, he shows us why he should've stuck to supervising, as he botches the raid by letting the coiners get the drop on him.

That was an exciting plot twist, but the film failed to build upon that tension, and instead rushes to wrap up the whole affair (via a chase that's almost too brief to be called that) just two minutes later. Promising start but no delivery, so we're left with a botched film about a botched raid on a coiner's den.