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What Happens in a Second?

What Happens in a Second?

Rounding out our informal series on 'Prince Achmed.'

May 23, 2025
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Animation Obsessive
What Happens in a Second?
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A still from The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

Welcome! And a very special one to our new members. We’ve gotten so many kind and generous messages over the past few days — thank you, and we hope you’ll enjoy our Thursday issues.

Last Sunday’s story covered The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), the earliest animated feature that still exists. The response to the piece was wonderful. But, in the comment section, an interesting question came up: how long is the film, exactly?

There’s no simple answer.

Today, the popular BFI edition of Prince Achmed lasts 65 minutes. The latest Blu-ray release in Germany is several minutes longer — because it runs a little slower (see a comparison). Meanwhile, the scholar John Grant once argued that the film was originally 90 minutes in length. Not because modern versions are missing footage, but because they’re running too fast.1

And, in a sense, all three of those lengths are correct.

The reason is complex, and it involves more than Lotte Reiniger’s classic film. It affects all silent films, including the live-action ones. People have debated it for more than 70 years. At its core, it’s about what one second contains.

A snippet of the BFI edition of Prince Achmed
The same scene, with speed reduced to (roughly) approximate playback of 18 frames per second

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