THE CHRISTMAS DREAM (1901)
aka Le reve de Noel
Article 4058 by Dave Sindelar
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Holiday sentiment

Children dream about the holiday on Christmas Eve.

There’s no real plot to this early Melies short; it’s largely a compendium of various scenes illustrating Christmas themes and traditions. The fantastic content includes angels delivering gifts and toys coming to life. There’s the ringing of a bell in a church, and a beggar is allowed to share Christmas dinner with the nobles in an act of goodwill to man. For a Melies film, this is very light on the special effects, and though it’s not a great film, it’s likable enough in its sincerity and artlessness.