Tom Old Boot

Tom Old Boot (a grotesque dwarf) (French: Tom Old Boot (nain grotesque)) was an 1896 French short silent film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is film #75 in its catalogues.^[1]

Tom Old Boot
Directed by	Georges Méliès
Starring	Tom Old Boot
Production company	Star Film Company
Release date	1896 (1896)
Country	France
Language	Silent

Though no synopsis survives,^[2] the film appears to have captured a performance by Tom Old Boot, a small-sized entertainer, who played at Méliès's stage venue, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, as an "American dwarf" ("nain americain").^[3] The magazine La Vie Parisienne reported that Tom Old Boot was playing at the Robert-Houdin Theatre in late December 1895, at Thursday and Sunday matinées. The reports claimed that the performances were a great success, getting many laughs, especially from the children in the audiences.^[4] The newspaper Le Petit Parisien reported on the March 1896 performances at the Robert-Houdin and called Tom Old Boot a "joyful, eccentric, dwarf comedian" ("joyeux nain comic excentric").^[5]

The film Tom Old Boot is presumed lost.^[1]