The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match (1901)
"Nouvelles luttes extravagantes" (original title)

This film is a winner, it being one of the most laughable of mysterious picture ever made. An extremely lean man and an extremely fat man are engaged in a wrestling match. The lean man ... See full summary »

Director:

Georges Méliès

Writer:

Georges Méliès

Stars:

Jeanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès

Cast

Credited cast:
Jeanne d'Alcy
Georges Méliès	...	Wrestler

Storyline

This film is a winner, it being one of the most laughable of mysterious picture ever made. An extremely lean man and an extremely fat man are engaged in a wrestling match. The lean man attacks the fat one viciously but cannot budge him from the floor. After wrestling furiously for awhile, the fat man falls upon the lean one and crushes him as flat as a pancake. The fat man then rolls him up in a package about the size of a carpet bag and lays him on the floor, and winds up by tossing him high in the air. The lean man in coming down falls on the fat man's head, knocking him to the floor and causing hiim to explode in a great cloud of smoke, his body being distributed all over the stage. The portions of the fat man's body then begin slowly to come to life, the fat man jumping to his feet and making a hasty exit, seeming glad to get out of the way of his terrible opponent.

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

France

Release Date:

December 1901 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

2 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The Extraordinary Voyage (2011)

User Reviews

Wrestle mania

In this film, master cinematic experimenter Georges Méliès uses his celebrated trickery to depict a wrestling match. The effect is like a live action cartoon. Except that this is 1901 and animated cartoons hadn't even been invented yet! In other words it's quite original. And it's really still quite amusing too. Méliès fills its short running time with a barrow load of comic invention. We have women morphing into men; a man having his head and limbs knocked off and reassembled; and a fellow who is flattened like a pancake. What this movie shows, apart from Méliès mastery of visual trickery, is his sense of humour and comic timing. Some comedy shows from a few years ago are no longer amusing, so it's really quite impressive that this feature from over one hundred years ago still manages to raise a few smiles.