''The Bewitched Inn'' (French: ''L'auberge ensorcelée'') is an 1897 French
short silent trick film
In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects.
History
The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain th ...
directed by
Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's
Star Film Company and is numbered 122–123 in its catalogs.
Plot
A traveler arrives in a small hotel room, complete with
riding boot
A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground and ...
s and a
pith helmet
The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi) is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native '' salako ...
. When he puts his luggage on the bed, it disappears immediately. Further magical confusions follow: when he sets down his helmet, it jumps to the floor and moves of its own accord before disappearing in its turn; when the traveler tries to light a candle, it jumps across the room and explodes; when he takes off his coat, it flies through the wall; when he tries to sit down, his chair changes place. Finally managing to sit down, the traveler takes off his boots, which walk away; when the traveler moves to the night table, it too disappears. The traveler prepares for bed and takes off his trousers, which fly through the ceiling. When he jumps into bed, it too disappears and reappears. The perplexed and irritated traveler gives up and dashes out of the room.
Themes
''The Bewitched Inn'' is the first known Méliès film to feature inanimate objects coming to life to tease their owners, a theme that would return time and again throughout his work.
The idea of a guest trying unsuccessfully to get to sleep in a hotel room, already popular for years on the variety stage, had been first used by Méliès in 1896, in his film ''
A Terrible Night''.
Méliès's 1903 film ''
The Inn Where No Man Rests'' used a plot very similar to that of ''The Bewitched Inn'', but expanded it considerably. The motif of a candle-laden traveler also returned in another 1903 Méliès film, ''
The Apparition, or Mr. Jones' Comical Experience With a Ghost''.
[ The hotel guest theme reappeared again with further sophistication in Méliès's 1906 film '' A Roadside Inn''.][
]
Production
''The Bewitched Inn'' was likely inspired by the Hanlon-Lees {{Refimprove, date=March 2008
A group of pre-Vaudevillian acrobats founded in the early 1840s, the Hanlon-Lees were world-renowned practitioners of "entortillation" (an invented word based upon the French term '' entortillage'', which translates t ...
, a British troupe of acrobats popular in Europe in the 1880s. The Hanlon-Lees, describing themselves as "Entortilationists", specialized in spectacular high-energy comedy acts in which they cavorted and bounced manically across the stage, often leaping through hidden trapdoors
A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...
in the set. In one routine, a guest in a candlelit inn was first tormented by his shoes coming to life, and then chased around the stage by demons. Other Méliès films bearing the mark of the Hanlon-Lees' inspiration include ''The Inn Where No Man Rests'' and ''The Diabolic Tenant
''The Diabolic Tenant'' (french: Le Locataire diabolique), originally released in English-speaking countries as ''The Fiendish Tenant'', is a 1909 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Com ...
''. Another inspiration for ''The Bewitched Inn'' probably came from a popular and influential 1839 ''féerie
''Féerie'', sometimes translated as "fairy play", was a French theatrical genre known for fantasy plots and spectacular visuals, including lavish scenery and mechanically worked stage effects. ''Féeries'' blended music, dancing, pantomime, and ...
'', ''Les Pilules du Diable'', which included a scene in a haunted room.[
The film was shot outdoors, in Méliès's garden in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. The inanimate objects were animated using wires; other special effects were created using pyrotechnics and the editing technique known as the substitution splice,][ which allowed the magical disappearances to occur.][ Méliès himself played the traveler.]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bewitched Inn, The
1897 films
1897 horror films
1890s French films
French silent short films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by Georges Méliès
Trick films
Articles containing video clips
Films set in hotels
1897 short films
Silent horror films