Sightseeing Through Whisky (1907) User Reviews

Méliès fails to find something new

[guy-bellinger · 4/10 · 21 December 2010]

This comic playlet would be acceptable had it been filmed ten years before, in the innocent times when the first films were made. But this is 1907 and a single scene, a single idea and the same gag repeated over and over, which were enough for the undemanding fun fair spectators of a few years before, did not correspond to what new audiences wanted: more elaborate comedy, more action and more locations than painted canvases . Sure, "L'arroseur arrosé" is basic as well but Lumière's short comic act is both funny and moving because it contains the first gag ever filmed. Doing the same thing twelve years later shows that Georges Méliès, who made such inventive fantasies as "Le voyage dans la lune"(1902) or "Les 400 farces du diable" (1906), is beginning to lose his grip and is merely replicating what he has done before, failing to see that filmmaking in France (Alice Guy, Max Linder, Louis Feuillade, ...) and elsewhere (Edwin S. Porter, Cecil M. Hepworth, D.W. Griffith, ...) is evolving and that these pioneers are trying out new ideas and new ways to film stories. It is sad to say but viewing "Pauvre John" a hundred years after it was made is a regular ordeal (luckily a short one!). It is really difficult to laugh at the antics of this caricature of a drunk and at the predictable misfortunes he goes through... Six years later Méliès will go bankrupt and vanish into oblivion. An unjust treatment because he should have been honored for the pioneer he was and for what he brought to the seventh art but he would have been an even greater creator if he had been able to adapt to the changing art of filmmaking, which as 'Pauvre John' demonstrates, he stubbornly refused to do, preferring to stick to what he had done before.

The Consummate Drunk

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 20 November 2017]

A group of people are taking a tour of some rooms. One of them is a knock-out drunk who takes out a bottle and goes into gyrations. With him is a large woman who decides to lie down and take a nap. The tour has proceeded, leaving these two behind. As it turns out, some sort of figure from the past come out and all hell breaks loose. The drunk can only think of one thing. Soon, Melies introduces to his usual stable of women. They are figure in a fountains and, naturally, come to life to the drunk''s delight. Nothing to recommend this one, in my opinion.

Lesser Melies

[Michael_Elliott · 16 August 2012]

Sightseeing Through Whiskey (1907)

** (out of 4)

aka Pauvre John ou Les aventures d'un buveur de whiskey

Lesser film from Georges Melies has a party taking some sort of tour when the drunk gets left behind and has visions of a priest bringing up various spirits, goddesses and other items. SIGHTSEEING THROUGH WHISKEY at least has a great title but sadly everything that follows it is rather bland and never really adds up in the end. I'm going to guess that this was meant to be a comedy but the laughs never come and what special effects there are just aren't all that impressive. I think another problem is that if you're familiar with the work of Melies you know that the director has much better work out there so you're basically just watching this and being reminded of much better movies. I will admit that I liked the setting here as I thought the backdrop looked extremely good but sadly this is about it. At just five plus minutes the film is harmless but it's best to check out the director's other work.

Watch a guy get rip-roaring drunk in under 5 seconds!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 9 September 2020]

No one who is familiar with the films of Georges Méliès would ever consider "Sightseeing Through Whisky" to be a classic! In fact, it's one of the poorer films of this great director I have seen....and I've seen at least a couple hundred of them.

A group of tourists are exploring some ruins in the Middle East. An older lady (I think it's really played by a man in women's clothing) is fatigued and falls to the ground asleep. While everyone in the group appears to have seen this, they ignore her and continue without her. Perhaps the lady had a habit of doing this and was a narcoleptic or perhaps they all hated her and simply didn't care. I have no idea why they reacted this way. A guy in the group stays behind...not to watch after her but to get drunk. He drinks a bit of booze and is totally drunk and hallucinating within five seconds...which must be some sort of world record.

In his boozy delirium, the guy imagines all sorts of ancient folks coming out and making him miserable. Additionally, twice a tableau of pretty girls appears and disappears. This is a trademark of many of Georges Méliès' films...but their appearance makes no sense and they simply don't belong here at all. After a bit, the others return...to find the narcoleptic woman beating up the drunk.

This film really makes no sense and is filled with cheap laughs and stuff that looks more recycled than anything else. A very poor example of the filmmaker's work with little to recommend it.