Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

1898 War 1 minute Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché

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About Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

Soldiers come up behind a sentry at a house and kill him. More soldiers come out of the house. The attackers fire, then fall back when the defenders bring up a cannon. An officer has a wagon pulled in for cover, and men shoot from behind it.

Cast & crew

More about Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

The French title is Surprise d'une maison au petit jour. It is also called House Ambushed at Dawn. Gaumont and most catalogues credit Alice Guy. A one-shot outdoor view, about one minute.

Themes

  • A sentry shot from behind
  • A cannon at the house
  • Cover behind a wagon
  • daybreak
  • sentry
  • cannon
  • wagon
  • soldiers
  • house

Look

The attack is played in one outdoor shot, with the cannon and the wagon entering the same frame.

Notes

  • Some accounts also connect a matching attack film, made on the same kind of set, with Gaston Breteau and Georges Hatot.
  • It appears in the Gaumont Treasures 1897–1913 collection and in the 2018 documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché.

Scenes

  • The attackers drop the sentry, then pull back when a cannon is brought out of the house.

Also available

  • Gaumont Treasures 1897–1913

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