10 Moments That Literally Stopped Movies
1. Pug's Costume Change - The Knockout
And now time for an oldie but a goodie, in the 1914 Fatty Arbuckle boxing comedy short The Knockout.
Though best remembered for being one of just a few films to feature Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character in a supporting capacity, The Knockout is most remarkable for touting one of cinema's early fourth wall breaks.
Roughly 11 minutes into the film, protagonist Pug (Arbuckle) prepares to change his clothes, but as he goes to drop his drawers notices the presence of the movie camera and bashfully stops what he's doing.
Pug then motions to the camera operator to lift the camera up out of view, which they do, at which point Pug changes his bottoms, lets the camera pan back down, and the story is able to continue.
It may seem quaint by modern standards, but 107 years ago? This was positively groundbreaking.