Pathé film number 380, released as "What Happened to the Inquisitive Janitor" in the US and as "Peeping Tom" in the UK. The title "What is Seen Through a Keyhole" was given 'a posteriori' and should not be regarded as its original. As a janitor is cleaning a hotel, he decides to peek through the keyholes to observe some of the guests in their rooms. In room 8, a woman is busy making herself look more attractive, and the janitor enjoys watching her. There are also some interesting things going on in the other rooms on the floor.
Direction
Zecca basically invented the keyhole shot. Thanks, Ferdinand.
Production
Multiple miniature sets with synchronized peephole action—wildly ambitious for 1901.
Director
Ferdinand Zecca
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pathé released this with three different titles depending on market prudishness—'Peeping Tom' for Britain, the moralizing 'What Happened to...' for Americans.
This is arguably cinema's first found-footage horror ancestor—the keyhole as camera, the audience as accomplice.
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