Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Wallace McCutcheon
Edwin S. Porter

Writer:

Winsor McCay (comic strip)

Release Date:

February 1906 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Fantasy

Plot:

The fiend faces the spectacular mind-bending consequences of his free-wheeling rarebit binge.

Plot Keywords:

Rarebit | Bed | Dream | Beer | Headache

Cast

Jack Brawn

(as John P. Brawn)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Trivia:

Based on the comic strip of the same name by Winsor McKay. This was the Edison Company's most popular film release in 1906, selling 192 copies during the year.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Imaginative and technically impressive

A man is having a bit too much of a good time out on the town – drinking and eating far too much. He stumbles home and goes to bed but it is clear to the audience that the effects of his drinking habits are far from being out of his system.

A simple film this one but one that is interesting for its place in cinema history. The title is the plot and the first few scenes of the film are really just there to get our character into bed and falling into a drunken deep sleep. The main thing the film wants to do is how many visual effects it can then produce. In this case it achieves this really well and sets up a memorable dream sequence that is imaginative and technically impressive. As with all films from this period, it is worth keeping it in the context of the period and what other things were being done with other films. With this in the mind the film is worth seeing because it is imaginative but more than that it is technically impressive at a time when cinema was just starting to develop.