The Cleaning Man
About The Cleaning Man
A floor polisher works so hard that plaster falls from the ceiling into the dining room of the apartment below. The people downstairs call a policeman from the window, and everyone goes up. He keeps scrubbing. The floor collapses. They fall through to the next floor, and that floor gives way too. The pile lands on a sleeper's bed. He turns over and goes back to sleep.
Cast & crew
More about The Cleaning Man
The French title is Le Frotteur. Wikidata and some programs credit both Louis Feuillade and Alice Guy. A French filmography credits Guy alone and says it was shot in a studio. An English-language note places the Gaumont catalog number at 1648 and argues it was made after Guy left for the United States in 1907, which would leave Feuillade as the director. It runs 3 minutes in Wikidata and 4 minutes in one French listing. The year used here is 1907.
Themes
Making
The rooms are studio sets stacked so the polisher can drop through more than one floor.
Preservation
A print is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The gag is a waxed floor so slippery that everyone who comes in falls.
- Plaster from the ceiling drives the downstairs diners out before the floor itself drops.
- The last shot is a man in bed who treats the collapse as part of a dream.
- Frauen Film Fest bills both Guy and Feuillade and times a print at 2 minutes.
Scenes
- Plaster falls into the downstairs dining room.
- The floor gives way and the polisher drops through.
- The sleeper rolls over and goes back to sleep.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-le-frotteur)
