AllMovie

After the devastating 1908 Sicilian earthquake, the Vitagraph company of Brooklyn, New York, sent out a crack team of cameraman to film the aftermath of the tragedy. The panoramic views of the rubble-ridden Sicilian countryside was pretty strong meat for this period in time. Even more appalling were the shots of the still-unclaimed bodies of the victims. Curiously, the local citizens who parade before the camera do not seem fazed by the carnage. In fact, several of the peasants grin beatifically upon realizing that they're on camera! Since no filmed record existed of the earthquake itself, the Vitagraph people were obliged to restage this event, with miniatures, in their Flatbush studios.