THE ASTRONOMER’S DREAM (1898)
aka La Lune a un metre
Article 2545 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-24-2008
Posting Date: 7-31-2008
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France

An astronomer is tormented by the devil, who plays horrible tricks on him and his equipment.

The devil starts in easy on the astronomer with your basic tricks from THE BEWITCHED INN, but things really get strange from there. Fortunately, the astronomer has a guardian angel who is able to put him back together when he goes to pieces (and I do mean that literally). All in all, this is an extremely amusing short from Melies, and I rank it as one of his best pre-A TRIP TO THE MOON movies. My favorite moment: the astronomer gets to meet a heavenly body up close and personal.