The Inexperienced Chauffeur

A newly minted car owner, proud and a bit overconfident, takes the wheel for the first time and turns a routine drive into escalating chaos. He barrels down a busy street, misjudging turns and clipping lamp-posts, market stalls and baby carriages as pedestrians scatter. Each mishap draws more angry onlookers, and what began as a minor trouble quickly turns into a full scale chase. The film keeps its focus on slapstick momentum and sight gags, relying on fast edits and physical comedy rather than dialogue, so the humor stays immediate and unembarrassed without giving away any surprises in how events finally resolve.

Directed by Georges Hatot and created from an idea by André Heuzé, this 1906 silent comedy stars André Deed. It was released in the early years of narrative film, presented as a short, single reel comedy for variety programs and fairground screenings.

As an early screen example of automobile humor, the film helped popularize chase sequences and pratfalls tied to modern technology. Its scenes of a car causing public disorder became repeatable motifs in later slapstick, and André Deed’s driver persona showed how a single comic character could carry rapid physical jokes across short scenes.

Modern viewers and a few critics treat the movie as an amusing period piece, scoring it modestly, with a low average among the few votes it has. Critics note the film’s emphasis on visual gags and the social contrast between new technology and everyday street life, making it an early commentary on urban change even as it aims for laughs.

Reliable box office figures for single reel films of 1906 are not available. Distribution would have been handled through local exchanges and exhibitors, so the film’s reach depended on the itinerant circuits and the popularity of short slapstick entries in program lineups rather than gross receipts.