The Prophetess of Thebes (1907)
aka La Prophetesse de Thebes
Directed by Georges Melies
Cast unknown
A king visits a prophetess and sees a vision of his own assassination. This makes him a rather disagreeable customer when it comes time for him to pay for her services.
One good thing about being a prophetess is that you can know in advance which of your customers are going to give you trouble, so she keeps a couple of demons around as well as a really big guy to help out in such a case. She makes sure to check the bag of money at the end, which is good; I'm sure she'd hate to end up with a bagful of sand like the ill-fated witch from THE WITCH. But then, being a prophetess, she probably knew the money would be good as well.
I guess the lesson of this one is "Be Prepared".
P.S. I only realized after having written this review that the footage I saw was not the complete movie, but only a fragment. This explains why there really isn't much of a plot to this one.
The Bewitched Trunk (1904)
aka Le Coffre enchante
Featuring Georges Melies
A magician performs amazing feats with a trunk.
No plot here; this, like THE VANISHING LADY, is merely movie-as-magic-trick; Melies uses special effects to give us a magic show, in which various people and things appear and disappear in a trunk. This one is a little disappointing largely because it's not very ambitious; I'm a little surprised that he was still making movies like this after A TRIP TO THE MOON, but then, he didn't make more than five hundred films by waiting around for inspiration to strike. This one is unremarkable, but fun nonetheless.
The Witch (1906)
aka La Fee Carabosse ou le poignard fatal
A young prince tricks a witch out of a shamrock in his hopes of using it to save a princess. He sets out on his task, only to find the witch in hot pursuit.
This is a somewhat unsatisfying Melies short, largely because I think the witch really got the bad end of the deal and wish she had emerged victorious. Still, the hand coloring is wonderful here, and the moment where the prince finds himself threatened by a number of fierce beasties (a giant frog, a giant owl, and a fire-breathing dragon that looks a little too much like THE GIANT CLAW) is a lot of fun. This film was commissioned by a furniture store to provide entertainment for children while their parents shopped.
The Vanishing Lady (1896)
aka Escomatage d'une dame au theatre Robert Houdin
Featuring Jeanne d'Alcy, Georges Melies
A magician makes a lady vanish and reappear, though he ends up turning her into a skeleton at one point.
This is Georges Melies at the point of learning his craft; it's a straightforward recreation of a stage magic act enhanced with the advantage of movie special effects; it even features a curtain call and a bow. If its interest is primarily historical, it is interesting to note the innate showmanship with which Melies plies his craft in the role of the magician here; when he makes the skeleton appear, his shocked and surprised reaction adds a bit of humor to the proceedings. If anything, one senses that Melies had a sure hand even at this point with his special effects.
The Treasures of Satan (1902)
aka Les Tresors de Satan
Satan locks up his treasures in a big chest. A thief comes in and tries to steal them, only to discover that the chest has some elaborate safeguards.
If the lesson of IN THE BOGIE MAN'S CAVE was "Be careful what you eat.", the lesson of this one is "Be careful who you rob." At least, that's what I got out of it; the plot description on IMDB from the Star Film Catalog gives a distinctly different take on the proceedings than I got from watching it. Obviously, one of us is wrong, but whoever has it right, you've got to beware those chests that spit out spear-carrying beautiful women, and you don't want to steal any money-bags that hop up and down of their own accord. Best of all, don't rob anyone who has a solid grounding in the black arts.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1898)
aka La Tentation de Saint-Antoine
Saint Anthony is tempted.
So what tempts Saint Anthony? Well, it appears to be girls; pretty girls who appear out of nowhere and play ring-around-the-rosey with him. Even kissing that skull he keeps under his crucifix is no help; it just turns into another pretty girl. Then, when the figure on the cross turns into a pretty girl as well, all hope seems lost for our hero. But wait – here's an angel to save him. Well, maybe – if you ask me, that angel also looks like a pretty girl, but our hero acts like he's saved, so what do I know?
Personally, I find his propensity for kissing skulls to be a lot more disturbing.
Pharmaceutical Hallucinations (1908)
aka Hallucinations pharmaceutiques ou Le truc de potard
A pharmacist and his assistants cater to the rich and powerful but neglect the poor. Then one of them finds himself haunted by apparitions, which drives him to seek help from a wizard.
It's hard to believe it, but this Melies short (most of which move at a pretty fast clip) is slow to get started; for the most part, the first three minutes consists of watching the pharmacists mix their drugs. Still, once you see the rich man fawned over and the poor man thrown out, you'll know that there's a Moral Lesson To Be Learned here, and sure enough, once we see one of them being haunted by ghosts, we know he's going to learn something about his treatment of the poor. The only problem is, I'm not sure what; the visit to the wizard brings about an encounter with a magical woman who rides off on a giant snail which, no doubt, means something, but I'm at a loss to say what; perhaps the secret is hidden in narration that was originally written for this short, but which no longer exists. Still, the Moral Lesson To Be Learned is learned, but it somehow requires the pharmacists turn into bakers. I emerged puzzled, but admittedly amused. Come to think of it, that's a good reaction to a lot of Melies's work.