Alf’s Carpet (1929)

ALF’S CARPET (1929)
aka The Rocket Bus
Article 3170 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-17-2010
Posting Date: 4-19-2010
Directed by W.P. Kellino
Featuring Carl Schenstrom, Harald Madsen, Gerald Rawlinson
Country: UK
What it is: Fantastically themed comedy

Two ne’er-do-wells happen upon a magic carpet which they use to run their dilapidated second-hand bus. They then agree to help a woman find her missing father.

First of all, a little history. This movie was based on a play that was the sequel to the original play version of ALF’S BUTTON. The story appears to have been changed to accommodate the use of a pair of Danish comedians. The movie was apparently released in both sound and silent versions. Sometime during the sixties or seventies, a silent Danish print of this movie was edited and shown on TV in Germany (where the duo was known as Pat and Patachon) in two half-hour segments. In place of title cards, the story is fleshed out by a German translator who narrates the story and dubs in voices for all the characters. This is the version I’ve just seen. Let’s face it; this is hardly the ideal way to experience a movie.

Still, this is probably the closest I’ll come to seeing the movie. Thanks to doctor kiss, I was armed with a cursory plot description that clears up a few details, but most of the plot is fairly obvious, and since the majority of the humor involves slapstick antics, it’s not really that hard to figure out. The comedians have a bit of character to them, which makes the movie easier to enjoy. I could describe the German dubbing as awful if I felt it was meant to be convincing, but I don’t suspect it was ever meant to be, as the whole affair has that air of being narrated. Some of the special effects are quite good as well. So, despite the fact that my version is quite a long ways from the original movie, I enjoyed it nonetheless. At least I can now mark this one off the list.

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The Mysterious Island (1905)

THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1905)
aka L’ile de Calypso: Ulysse et le geant Polypheme, Ulysses and Giant Polyphemus
Article 3169 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-16-2010
Posting Date: 4-18-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Mini Homeric epic

Ulysses returns to the island of Calypso; there he encounters the cyclops.

The deceptive English title makes it sound like it’s another Verne adaptation, but such is not the case. It’s something of a sequel to “The Odyssey”, with Ulysses seeking Calypso and doing battle with Polyphemus, all in under four minutes. The special effects are rather fun; I like the moving eye in the cyclops’s forehead.

Tomorrow we take a small break from the Melies-a-thon.

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Robert Macaire and Bertrand (1907)

ROBERT MACAIRE AND BERTRAND (1907)
aka Robert Macaire et Bertrand
Article 3168 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-15-2010
Posting Date: 4-17-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Comic slapstick chase movie

Two thieves rob a bank and lead the police on a merry chase.

Many of the Melies films I’ve covered are so full of fantastic content that I have no problem justifying my coverage of them. This one is the most problematic in that regard. There are only two touches that throw it into the realm of the fantastic; the first has an explosion launching the thieves on a long journey into the air, and the second is a balloon ascent which, based on the background, shows them being taken into outer space. Both of these elements are pretty slight as far as the content goes, though. This is not to say there isn’t a fair amount of special effects; the trains are obviously not real, and the depiction of an earthquake certainly adds to the special effects content. Mostly, it’s slapstick comedy; it’s sporadically effective, but far from Melies’s best work.

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Under the Sea (1907)

UNDER THE SEA (1907)
aka 20000 lieues sous les mers, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Article 3167 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-14-2010
Posting Date: 4-16-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Underwater fantasy

A fisherman is made the captain of a new underwater vehicle known as a submarine. However, his first voyage in the vehicle goes awry…

Georges Melies tends to play fast and loose with his literary adaptations; this version of the Jules Verne story doesn’t even feature Captain Nemo. It starts out looking like it’s going to be one of Melies’s epic journeys like A TRIP TO THE MOON, but it stops just short of that by dint of a plot twist that you’ll probably see coming when you start wondering why a lowly fisherman would be put in charge of an amazing new machine. Still, you get a giant crab, a giant fish, a giant clam, pushy sea flowers, dancing girls and an octopus. A tad disappointing, but still entertaining.

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Satan in Prison (1907)

SATAN IN PRISON (1907)
aka Satan en prison
Article 3166 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-13-2010
Posting Date: 4-15-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Silent trick film with home furnishing subplot

An elegantly dressed man is thrown into a prison cell. He magically conjures up all the creature comforts of home, but the guards object, so he…

The Melies-a-thon continues, this time with a more elaborate variation of Melies’s “magic act” movies. Here, with the help of a white sheet, he conjures up chairs, a table, a fireplace, paintings for the walls, and even a beautiful woman to keep him company. The movie has a bit of a twist ending, but since the title gives it away, it’s really hard to call it a surprise. All in all, it’s an entertaining if minor entry into Melies’s oeuvre.

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The Prolific Magical Egg (1902)

THE PROLIFIC MAGICAL EGG (1902)
aka L’oeuf du sorcier ou L’oeuf magique prolifique
Article 3165 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-12-2010
Posting Date: 4-14-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Trick film

A magician shows us the amazing things he can do with an egg.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re on a Melies streak here. This is one of Melies’s “magic act” films; these are the ones where he more or less plays a magician who is doing tricks, only with the help of camera special effects rather than sleight-of-hand alone. The egg grows, shrinks and turns into talking heads. At the end, he eats the egg and… well, you don’t want me to give away the ending, do you? Short and sweet.

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The Haunted Castle (1896)

THE HAUNTED CASTLE (1896)
aka Le manoir du diable
Article 3164 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-11-2010
Posting Date: 4-13-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Jeanne d’Alcy and Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: The first horror movie

Two travelers arrive at an ancient castle and find themselves tormented by Mephistopheles.

The first horror movie? The claim is pretty good; unlike many of Melies’s films, he doesn’t appear to be trying for laughs here. It’s a simple, straightforward compendium of basic Melies tricks, with items and people vanishing, reappearing and transforming in front of your eyes. It must have been a real sensation in its day, and is certainly important historically.

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An Hallucinated Alchemist (1897)

AN HALLUCINATED ALCHEMIST (1897)
aka L’hallucination de l’alchimiste
Article 3163 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-10-2010
Posting Date: 4-12-2010
Directed by Georges Melies
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Trick short

An alchemist has a nightmare in which visions appear in a giant retort.

I got a strong sense of deja vu from watching this early Melies short (which, thanks to a recent collection of his works, has been rescued from my Lost list), but that’s because some of the ideas here would pop up in later shorts of his as well; in particular, this one reminds me of THE MYSTERIOUS RETORT. Still, the hand-colored print I watched was beautiful to look at, and, even at this late date of time, some of the effects are actually quite good. Still, this is one of Melies’s more minor shorts.

ADDENDUM: It has come to my attention that the movie I watched here has been mistitled; it is not the title given above, but is actually just a shorter version of THE MYSTERIOUS RETORT. In short, this review is for the wrong movie. I’ll let it stand here as a monument to the fact that mistakes will always be made.

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Figures de cire (1914)

FIGURES DE CIRE (1914)
aka The Man of the Wax Figures
Article 3162 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-9-2010
Posting Date: 4-11-2010
Directed by Maurice Tourneur
Cast unknown
Country: France
What it is: Early psychological horror

A man accepts a bet to spend the night alone in a wax museum. Can his nerves stand the strain?

My copy of this short silent movie has title cards in French, but the plot isn’t really that difficult to scope out; I was able to figure out the basic plot before I hunted up some plot descriptions, and they match. I won’t give away too much on this one because I honestly wasn’t sure which direction this was going to go, and I think the movie is best off that way. Let’s just say that it manages to work its way up to a nice shock ending. This movie was considered lost for many years, but was rediscovered in 2007, and the print shows quite a bit of damage at one point. Nevertheless, this is an effective and fun early horror movie.

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La belle au bois dormant (1908)

LA BELLE AU BOIS DORMANT (1908)
aka Beauty of the Sleeping Woods
Article 3161 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-18-2010
Posting Date: 4-10-2010
Directed by Albert Capellani and Lucien Nonguet
Featuring Julienne Mathieu
Country: France
What it is: Fairy tale

A princess falls victim to a witch’s curse and pricks her finger on a spindle, causing her and the other residents of her castle to fall asleep for a hundred years. Can a handsome prince save her?

At eleven minutes, there’s only so much you can do with a story. One little problem with this version of the Sleeping Beauty story is that the Prince’s rescue is peculiarly eventless; he never seems to be in any peril, and just kind of walks in and wakes her up. Maybe that’s why the first half of the movie concentrates on the curse coming true. It’s done in a very Meliesian style, though it’s not quite as heavy on the special effects; the most prominent of these include some bushes that enter and then depart the landscape, once when they are becoming barriers, and once when the prince gets through them. Still, it’s pretty to look at, especially with some of the hand coloring. All in all, a minor silent short.

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