Les quatre petits tailleurs (1910)

LES QUATRE PETITS TAILLEURS (1910)
aka The Four Little Tailors
Article 4250 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-15-2013
Directed by Emile Cohl
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Whimsical sewing short

Four tailors have a competition exhibiting their sewing techniques; the victor wins the hand of a beautiful woman.

The fantastic content isn’t apparent in the plot description, but, given that the director is Emile Cohl, it will come as no surprise that when it does show up, it will involve animation. In this case, some of the tailors use magical sewing techniques where the threads and needles sew of their own volition; the most interesting bit has one of the tailors mending the wing on a fly. Most of the short is live action, and one of the twists of the story is finding out which tailor wins. The animation sequences are the definite highlight here; the rest is mildly entertaining whimsy.

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Captain Applejack (1931)

CAPTAIN APPLEJACK (1931)
Article 4249 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-14-2013
Directed by Hobart Henley
Featuring John Halliday, Mary Brian, Kay Strozzi
Country: USA
What it is: Almost an “old dark house” movie

An aristocrat, bored of his staid existence, decides to sell his ancestral home and take off for a life of adventure. He finds himself in the middle of one when he encounters a Russian duchess on the run from a spy. In the process, he discovers that the ancestral founder of the home was a pirate, and that a fortune may be hidden in the house.

This movie features hidden passages, a concealed treasure, travelers dropping by the mansion in the middle of rainy night when their car breaks down, and a spiritualist. Put these elements together in a different way and you’d have the makings of an “old dark house” thriller for sure, but this one doesn’t arrange them in the usual way, and isn’t trying for that type of thrill. Actually, the most interesting fantastic element in this one is the implication that the main character may actually be something of a reincarnation of his pirate ancestor, and one sequence of the movie takes place aboard a pirate ship, with the various cast members taking on dual roles as pirates and their victims. It’s based on a play, and the first half suffers somewhat from being rather stage-bound, but it opens up a bit in the second half. It’s also rather racy at times in a way that certainly wouldn’t be allowed when the Code went into effect. All in all, this is an interesting curiosity.

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La course aux potirons (1907)

LA COURSE AUX POTIRONS (1907)
aka The Pumpkin Race
Article 4248 by Dave Sindelar
Directed by Romeo Bossetti
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Rogue vegetable shenanigans

When some thieves break a pumpkin cart while trying to steal it, the pumpkins get loose and lead the townspeople on a merry chase through town.

One thing I learned from another movie watching project I’m engaged in is that the cinematic “chase scene” was a very early creation indeed. This is one of my favorite examples, in that the object of pursuit is not some man who has angered them, but a whole gang of seemingly sentient pumpkins; they seem able to roll uphill, go up chimneys, etc, which is what provides the fantastic content. Quite frankly, some of the special effects here are a bit amazing, and it’s actually quite amusing, especially since one of the pursuers is a man with a donkey who he refuses to leave behind, thus forcing him to force the donkey up chimneys and down manholes, etc. I’m glad to learn that the rolling items were pumpkins; when I first saw the short, I didn’t know what they are, as they are much flatter than most pumpkins I’ve seen. This one is a bizarre treat, and a lot of fun.

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Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy (1909)

PRINCESS NICOTINE; OR, THE SMOKE FAIRY (1909)
Article 4247 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-10-2013
Director unknown
Featuring Paul Panzer and Gladys Hulette
Country: USA
What it is: Weird tobacco fantasy

A tobacco enthusiast discovers fairies living in his tobacco box.

I have to admit I’m not sure what to make of this odd little trick short. It’s a hodgepodge of special effects that includes stop-motion, giant props, and miniaturization via mirrors (as in opposition to double exposure) among its tricks. It really doesn’t seem to have a story per se; it’s basically the smoker and the fairies playing tricks on each other. It will leave you wondering if someone has been smoking something other than tobacco, though.

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Wunder der Schopfung (1925)

WUNDER DER SCHOPFUNG (1925)
aka Our Heavenly Bodies
Article 4246 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-8-2013
Directed by Hanns Walter Kornblum
Featuring Paul Bildt, Willy Kaiser-Heyl, Theodor Loos
Country: Germany
What it is: Documentary on heavenly bodies

The nature of the various heavenly bodies is explored, as well as the history of astronomy and speculation on the creation and fate of the Earth.

Though the silent era is heavy on “actualities” (films showing real-life events), the documentary as we understand it seems to be a relative rarity. Being a documentary, I’m not sure this movie could strictly be called science fiction, but I do think it qualifies for this project, not only because the subject matter would prove to be of interest to science fiction fans, but also because the movie does use certain techniques that thrust it into genre area; for example, most of the second half of the movie is envisioned as a trip into outer space to explore the moon and the other planets, with some of the action taking place inside of a spaceship. Though the movie does get a bit dry at times, it is creatively staged, is full of fun (if not always convincing) special effects, and has a real charm to it. I do wonder if all of the footage is original to the movie, though; certain scenes (such as the destruction of the world in the last segment) are so elaborate that they do look like they may have been lifted from other movies; nevertheless, they are well used. I really enjoyed this one.

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Byaku fujin no yoren (1956)

BYAKU FUJIN NO YOREN (1956)
aka Madame White Snake
Article 4245 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-7-2013
Directed by Shiro Toyoda
Featuring Ryo Ikebe, Shirley Yamaguchi, Kaoru Yachigusa
Country: Hong Kong / Japan
What it is: Chinese fairy tale

A lowly herb clerk is seduced and possessed by snake goddess in human form. A Taoist monk tries to help him see the woman for what she is. Who will prevail?

This co-production between the Shaw Brothers and Toho is actually Toho’s first color special effects movie, so it has a certain historical value. It’s based on Chinese legend, and despite certain horror elements, it’s more of a fantasy/fairy tale than anything else. In purely visual terms, it’s a lovely movie to look at, especially in the opening scenes. However, it’s also somewhat long-winded, and after the failed attempt at the exorcism in the middle of the movie, it starts to run out of gas. Interestingly, the snake goddess is played somewhat for sympathy; she is sincerely in love with the man and is devastated at the thought of losing him. You can see the hand of Eiji Tsuburaya in the movie’s main special-effects sequence, involving a storm summoned by the snake goddess to inundate a temple. All in all, though I can’t say I found the movie truly engaging, I do think it is quite interesting at times.

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La posada sangrienta (1943)

LA POSADA SANGRIENTA (1943)
aka The Bloody Inn
Article 4244 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-6-2013
Directed by Fernando A. Rivero
Featuring Julio Ahuet, Carolina Barret, Alfonso Carillo
Country: Mexico
What it is: An “old dark inn” movie, in Spanish

A young couple’s car breaks down, and they find themselves at an inn where several murders have taken place… and they find themselves under suspicion.

Given that my copy of the movie is in unsubtitled Spanish, I’m making a few guesses as to the plot line, but I don’t think I’m that far off the mark. It’s definitely an “old dark house” variation, though not a particularly inspired one; quite frankly, the whole movie has the air of having been slapped together without much inspiration or thought. The biggest giveaway in this regard is the score, which appears to be a compendium of stock classical music pieces that are at times quite distracting and inappropriate. The comic relief character is one of those types who gets most of his laughs by reacting to everything with cowering cowardice. Outside of that, the two most striking things about this one are the opening scenes involving people listening to a radio show, and the fact that the police detective bears an uncanny resemblance to Bob Hope. There may be some fun to had in the dialogue, but since I couldn’t understand it, that did me no good; as it is, I found this one pretty forgettable.

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The Oompahs (1952)

THE OOMPAHS (1952)
Article 4243 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-5-2013
Directed by Robert Cannon
Featuring the voice of Marvin Miller
Country: USA
What it is: UPA animated cartoon

In a family of musical instruments, staid, traditional Mr. Oompah Pah tries to exert parental authority over his free-spirited jazz-loving son. But will his authority quash the little one’s spirit?

UPA revolutionized animation in the fifties with its spare but stylish abstract look, and this is a good example. The story itself is a fairly common “generation gap” tale, similar in some ways to Warner Brothers’ I WANT TO SINGA. The animation style and the bouncy music are the main attractions here; it even has a bit of poignancy when the father tries to cheer up his son by buying him a dog. All in all, it’s cute, but it’s not up to the level of THE TELL-TALE HEART, just to pick out one of UPA’s better cartoons.

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Midvinterblot (1946)

MIDVINTERBLOT (1946)
aka The Sacrifice
Article 4242 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-4-2013
Directed by Gosta Werner
Featuring Gunnar Bjornstrand, Henrik Schildt, Yngve Nordwall
Country: Sweden
What it is: Abstract horror

In ancient Sweden, a human sacrifice is performed in the dead of winter to bring the sun out.

The above plot description does not just cover the beginning of the movie; it is, in fact, the entire plot of this short. And before you level any accusations of me engaging in plot spoilers, I need to say that the narrator pretty much tells us all of that information in the opening scenes. This makes me suspect that it isn’t the plot that is of primary importance here; the plot’s existence is merely a platform from which the movie hangs its imagery. This would work just fine if the imagery was engaging and hypnotic enough to be a source of fascination in and of itself. Unfortunately, it is only sporadically so; the shots of the various faces waiting for the sacrifice is the best thing here; the rest of the imagery (the shots of the wintry landscape, the scenes of blood being spattered on the various characters) is disappointing, especially when you realize that the short isn’t going to take you anywhere beyond the plot description. The music is also predictable and sometimes a little distracting; some scenes would work better in silence. Perhaps it’s not surprising to discover that this is someone’s first movie; I’ve not seen any of the other works of Gosta Werner, but I hope this one turned out to be a stepping stone to better things.

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Plongeur fantastique (1906)

PLONGEUR FANTASTIQUE (1906)
aka The Fantastic Diver
Article 4241 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-3-2013
Directed by Segundo de Chomon
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Trick film

A swimmer shows off his unique diving styles.

The fantastic content here is that not only does the diver jump into the water; he also jumps out of the water back onto the diving board in an impossible way (through the magic of running the footage backwards). So we have a series of dives juxtaposed with a series of returns to the diving board, and I will credit the movie with having the foresight to not use the same backwards footage that they just ran forwards, so each scene is a little bit different. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that the trick gets old pretty quick; the initial gag is the best in that his first dive is fully clothed, but he returns wearing a swimsuit, but from there, even with the short’s slight running time of about three minutes, it gets tiresome. The Walt Lee book credits Gaston Velle as the director, but IMDB gives it as Chomon, which I assume may be the result that it’s often hard to figure out who actually directed these shorts.

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