The '?' Motorist (1906)

What makes The “?” Motorist such a delight is how boldly it treats the cinema screen like a playground: in just a few minutes, Walter R. Booth turns a simple joyride into a giddy escalation of impossible sights, where a glowing motorcar doesn’t merely outrun authority, it outruns gravity and common sense. The tone is pure Edwardian mischief—part science-fiction daydream, part fantasy postcard, part deadpan comedy—built from clever, handmade effects that still charm because you can feel the ingenuity behind every transformation and impossible turn. It’s the kind of early film that reminds you how “special effects” began as magic tricks performed with confidence and a wink, and it’s hard not to grin as the movie keeps topping itself. Fair warning: it’s very much a 1906 trick film with a brief moment of slapstick peril (a policeman is struck and run over), but if you’re even slightly curious about cinema’s earliest imagination taking flight, this one is a small, sparkling treat.

The “?” Motorist is clearly trying to dazzle you with early cinema magic—an anything-goes joyride where a glowing car humiliates the police, defies physics, and eventually takes a cheeky detour into outer space. If you’re expecting a real story, character work, or modern-style comedy beats, you’ll likely find it thin and more like a visual gag stretched into a short. The charm lives in its handmade trick effects and playful absurdity, but the pacing is basically “one stunt after another,” and there’s a moment of slapstick danger where a policeman gets knocked down and run over that may not land for everyone. Best for viewers who enjoy film history curios and stop-motion-style spectacle, not for anyone looking for narrative depth or polished laughs.