''The Famous Box Trick'' (french: Illusions fantasmagoriques) is an 1898 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

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 Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

, featuring a stage magician who transforms one boy into two with the aid of an axe.

Synopsis

A stage magician conjures up a dove and places it in a box with a set of clothes. A boy appears from the box, and the magician divides him into two boys with an axe. The two boys squabble, and the magician transforms one into a paper tissue, which he shreds and places the other back in the box. The magician then destroys the box with a hammer to show the boy has vanished. The boy reappears and is transformed into flags. The magician then disappears in a puff of smoke, only to re-enter through a door to take his bow.

Production

At the time of filming ''The Famous Box Trick'', Méliès had recently finished a series of complex " reconstructed newsreels" (staged recreations of current events) about the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. He then moved back towards

s with this film and a handful of others, short magical sketches focusing on

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

made with variations of the

substitution splice The substitution splice or stop trick is a cinematic special effect in which filmmakers achieve an appearance, disappearance, or transformation by altering one or more selected aspects of the mise-en-scène between two shots while maintaining th ...

. ''The Famous Box Trick'', with ten substitution splices in a single minute of action, may be the most complex of this group and the most technically complicated of any film Méliès had made so far. Méliès plays the magician in the film, which also uses

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...

in its effects. The style is highly theatrical, with camera tricks only beginning around halfway through, and particularly reminiscent of Méliès's earlier ''

The Vanishing Lady ''The Vanishing Lady'' (french: Escamotage d'une dame chez Robert-Houdin, literally "Magical Disappearance of a Lady at the Théâtre Robert-Houdin") is an 1896 French short silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. It features Méliès a ...

'' (1896). The film's use of American and British flags as props reflects international interest in Méliès's films; by 1898, Méliès had found the United States and United Kingdom to be important markets for his work.

Release

The film was sold by Méliès's

Star Film Company The Manufacture de films pour cinématographes, often known as Star Film, was a French film production company run by the illusionist and film director Georges Méliès. History On 28 December 1895, Méliès attended the celebrated first publi ...

and is numbered 155 in its catalogues. A print survives at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Famous Box Trick, The French silent short films French black-and-white films Films directed by Georges Méliès Films about magic and magicians 1898 short films 1890s French films