Opens with a woman posing on a pedestal, dressed in a white body leotard with a sash tied at her hips. Marshall continues with various feminine poses, reminiscent of classic Greek statuary, to accentuate her figure. Film cuts to Treloar posed on the bare stage without a pedestal. He wears brief leopard-skin trunks or short tunic, wrist bands, and Roman-looking laced sandals. His poses accentuate the muscular development of his upper body, particularly that of his arms, and include movements that make the muscles jump. Treloar finishes with a slight nod to the camera.
Practical Effects
Leopard print trunks and Roman sandals, the 1904 aesthetic
Direction
Edwin S. Porter treating human bodies like Greek statues
Acting
Treloar's muscle-jumping trick, the original flex

Director
Edwin S. Porter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Physical culture shows were the CrossFit Games of the Gilded Age, complete with celebrity athletes and moral panic about 'overdeveloped' women.
Edwin S. Porter filmed this same year he made 'The Great Train Robbery' — from Western bandits to oiled abs, the man had range.
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