| The Magician | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot from the film | |
| Directed by | Georges Méliès |
| Produced by | Georges Méliès |
| Starring | Georges Méliès |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 1 minute |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
The Magician (French: Le Magicien; Star Film Catalogue no. 153.) is a 1898 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès, featuring a wizard, a Pierrot and a sculptor in a rapid series of substitution splices. The film is, "another exercise in the art of the jump-cut," according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "in the tradition of Georges Méliès' earlier A Nightmare (Le Cauchemar, 1896) and The Haunted Castle (Le Château hanté, 1897)."
Synopsis
A wizard conjures a table and a box out of thin air, and then vanishes as he jumps toward the box. Pierrot emerges from the box and takes a seat, when suddenly a banquet appears on the table, but it vanishes along with the table and chair before he can eat. A man in an Elizabethan doublet taps him on the shoulder and he is transformed into a Renaissance sculptor. Lifting a half finished bust onto a pedestal he prepares to set to work on it with a hammer and chisel only for it to come to life and snatch his tools from him. He attempts to embrace the sculpture only for it to disappear and reappear in a variety of poses. Finally the Elizabethan man reappears to kick him in the rump.
Cast
- Georges Méliès as Le Sculpteur
Current status
Given its age, this short film is available to freely download from the Internet.
References
- Brooke, Michael. "The Magician". filmjournal.net. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
External links
- The Magician at IMDb
- The Magician on YouTube
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