''After the Ball'' (French: ''Après le bal'') is an 1897 French

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

made by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and numbered 128 in its catalogues.

Plot

A maidservant helps her lady get undressed (with nudity simulated by a bodystocking). The maid helps the woman bathe, pouring water over her, and finally covers and dries her with a robe.

Production

Méliès was not the first filmmaker to include simulated nudity in a film; Eugène Pirou had already made a film along the same lines in late 1896, ''Le Bain de la Parisienne''. (Méliès's film is sometimes also known by this title.) Henri Joly, who made films for

Charles Pathé Charles Morand Pathé (; 26 December 1863 – 25 December 1957) was a pioneer of the French film and recording industries. As the founder of Pathé, Pathé Frères, its roots lie in 1896 Paris, France, when Pathé and his brothers pioneered ...

, is believed to have filmed similarly racy subjects as early as 1895. In Méliès's version,

Jehanne d'Alcy Charlotte Lucie Marie Adèle Stephanie Adrienne Faës (20 March 1865 – 14 October 1956), known by her stage name Jeanne d'Alcy or Jehanne d'Alcy, was a French film actress. Biography D'Alcy had achieved success in theatrical productions by 1 ...

is the bather, with Jane Brady, a music hall actress, as the chambermaid. Méliès, d'Alcy, and Brady made ''After the Ball'' outdoors, with the backdrop spread on a peach-garden wall (a '' mur à pêches'') on the Méliès family property. Méliès's first glass studio had already been built, but was not quite ready to use as the walls were still being reinforced. According to d'Alcy's recollections, as reported to her granddaughter Madeleine Malthête-Méliès, dark sand stood in for the "water" because d'Alcy was cold in her body stocking.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:After the Ball 1897 films French black-and-white films Films directed by Georges Méliès French silent short films 1897 short films