This film, which can be seen on the Netherlands Film Museum site on YouTube, is among the last gasp of the "magic act" film. It was very popular in its day, mostly because Georges Melies had been a stage magician (as had the director of this film, Walter Booth, for several years Melies' chief rival). It was being swept away, both by it being old hat at this point, and its incorporation into film grammar. It was no longer enough to make a whole film.
Nonetheless, this is a handsome example of the style, incorporating, as it does, the sort of stop-motion and action provided by Emile Cohl to many of the middle works of Segundo de Chomon. It maintains some interest as the evolutionary end of the line, although there's nothing here that you have not seen before.
Nonetheless, this is a handsome example of the style, incorporating, as it does, the sort of stop-motion and action provided by Emile Cohl to many of the middle works of Segundo de Chomon. It maintains some interest as the evolutionary end of the line, although there's nothing here that you have not seen before.
