Sideshow Wrestlers (1908)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
aka Le Conseil du Pipelet
This here is a pretty weak film from Georges Melies. What we basically have is an opening scene with people doing something that I'm not quite sure of and then we flash to a carnival setting where we see a couple unfunny and badly staged wrestling matches. Clocking in close to 9-minutes, it's clear that outside forces, meaning other directors, were forcing Melies to change his game plan as the typical three or four minute movie wasn't going to work anymore. When you go through the Flicker Alley set and are able to watch the films in the order that they were released, it comes quite clear that these "added" bits of scenes that make no sense are probably just there to fatten up the running time. I guess you can't blame Melies for having to change but it's clear that it doesn't work here. The magic, wonder and passion that is in most of the director's work is completely missing here and we're left with a very boring film that only Melies die hards should even bother with. Even the sets look rather cheap.