The Bewitched House 1907
A group of travellers go into a house for protection. Little do they know, it is filled with ghosts who make unusual things happen to them.
A group of travellers go into a house for protection. Little do they know, it is filled with ghosts who make unusual things happen to them.
A pig dressed in fancy clothes flirts with a pretty girl, but she humiliates him and tears off his suit; she then makes him dance for her affections.
A boy spreads glue all over town.
As an older man and a youth are eating at the table, the older man decides to amuse himself by using pepper to make the boy sneeze. Later, the boy retaliates by sneaking into the older man's room and putting pepper in his handkerchief, hairbrush, and clothing. But things quickly get out of hand when the sneezing that results begins to disrupt the whole town.
In this film, Méliès concocts a combination fairy- and morality tale about the foolishness of trying to look too deeply into the workings of an unstable and inscrutable universe. At a medieval school, an old astronomer begins to teach a class of young men, all armed with telescopes, about the art of scrutinising an imminent eclipse. When a mechanical clock strikes twelve, all the young men rush to the windows and fix their telescopes on the heavens.
The film, a parody of the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, follows a fisherman, Yves, who dreams of traveling by submarine to the bottom of the ocean, where he encounters both realistic and fanciful sea creatures, including a chorus of naiads played by dancers from the Théâtre du Châtelet. Méliès's design for the film includes cut-out sea animals patterned after Alphonse de Neuville's illustrations for Verne's novel.
A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.
A traveler stays the night at a rural inn, but gets no rest as he is tormented by various spectres and mysterious happenings.
A combination of the story of Goldlocks and the Three Bears with the true story of how Teddy Roosevelt spared a bear cub after killing its mother while hunting, an event which led to the popularization of the teddy bear. Goldilocks goes to sleep in the bears' home after watching six teddy bears dance and do acrobatics, viewing them through a knothole in the wall. When she is awoken by the returning bear family, they give chase through the woods, but she runs to the aid of the Old Rough Rider, who saves her.
The first adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
A family troupe of acrobats, made up to appear Japanese, perform various unbelievable stunts in front of the camera, achieved through a trick of the camera.
A piano entices anyone who comes near.
An old woman begs a young men to carry her heavy bundle of firewood. The man refuses: he rather goes to sleep. The woman, who turns out to be a witch, punishes him with terrible apparitions.
John, who loves the bottle a little too much, is one of a group of sightseers. Too drunk to follow the party, the reeling drunkard remains on the site of a ruin where he starts having hallucinations.
A boy in a cadet's uniform paints a statement on the top of the frame and then tips his cap to the audience. Also known as "Matsumoto fragment".
The Devil is bored. He goes back to Earth with a magic elevator. He surprises two sewer workers, disguises himself as a city man, and spreads improbable events: quarrel with a coachman, altercation with a city sergeant, mystification of a barman, quiproquo with couples… He's trapped in a cage with a young woman, and goes down to hell. Surprise, the young woman is Madame Devil who was disguised by jealousy.
The plot follows King Edward VII and President Armand Fallières dreaming of building a tunnel under the English Channel.
The film is several vignettes of slap stick presentation of racial stereotypes. We are treated to murderous Mexicans, conniving Jews, brawling Irish, bloodthirsty Scots, an Indian, and even Uncle Sam. This little black and white silent feature is an interesting look, especially in that we really don't know what we are seeing. Is this what it first appears - a racist comedy that shows a disdain for all non-WASPs? Is the final scene depicting most of the cast (except the dancing Negros) working together to show that America is a melting pot?
A peddler of "the best glue" sets up his outdoor stall. A crowd gathers for a demonstration. As he gives his pitch, two observant cops decide drive off his customers and close him down, much to his fury. He seeks revenge as they sit on a park bench.
A policeman spots a dog stealing a piece of meat from a butcher's shop, and gives chase. Soon several more policemen have joined the pursuit. But the chase does not turn out as the policemen expect.