Sur les toits (1897) User Reviews

Les Keystone Flics

[boblipton · 6/10 · 28 May 2010]

The classic Keystone image, of the incompetent Kops, in hot pursuit of some villain on their breakaway wagons, waving their billy clubs futilely in the air..... where did it come from? Well, before Sennett made them his own, they were all over the place and while every nation produced a goodly number of rough slapstick comedies -- there are several variations on The Miller and the Chimney Sweep pelting each other with flour and soot from America and the U.K. -- the French and the Italians excelled in them for several years. And here we probably have the origin of the Keystone Kops, sixteen years before Sennet produced THE BANGVILLE POLICE.

It's only a touch over a minute in length and, as the flic is caught among the roof tiles, he gestures most theatrically. I don't doubt it was derived from some theatrical piece and it remains a purely theatrical piece, not the least cinematic. It's not among the best of Melies' pieces, even from this period. But it well may be the first of its kind.

What Are They Up To?

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 9 November 2017]

This comedic tale starts with a poor woman thrown out a window. Some idiot cops now take over the scene, running around on expressionistic rooftops. Other than their pratfalls, almost nothing happens. We are privy to no plot development. Even with the limited length and the preciousness of the characters, there is little to recommend it.

On the Roofs review

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 22 April 2020]

Sort of grisly in the way a woman is thrown (presumably to her death) by a pair of burglars who then make an ass of the policeman who tries to apprehend them. Too grisly to be funny, that's for sure...

Check Out That Skyline

[Michael_Elliott · 25 August 2011]

Sur les toits (1897)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka On the Roof

Decent Melies short has a couple thieves crawling through the roof where they take the woman inside and throw her off the side of the building. Then, a cop notices them so he too climbs through the roof in order to capture them. If you've never seen a Melies film before then this here might not be the best place to start as there's none of his now legendary tricks or horror elements. Those who have seen everything else from the director, those known as die-hards, will want to check this out for a couple of reasons. One is the painting skyline that takes up the majority of the set as it actually looks pretty good and is well drawn. Another plus is that you have to admit it's rather brutal considering this is 1897. The scene where the woman is thrown off the roof is of course fake and it's obviously so but still.... it's 1897. The story itself really isn't that special and it appears that the director was going for laughs but sadly there really aren't any.

Primitive slapstick from Georges Méliès (including very early cinematic 'potty humour')

[jamesrupert2014 · 5/10 · 19 February 2020]

This comedic short features the antics of a couple of thieves who sneak into a house from the roof. After disposing of the owner, they ransack the place until accosted by a soldier, whom they incapacitate by tying to a chamber pot. Very short and somewhat amusing in a silly, archaic way.

A bit shocking for 1897...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 21 July 2011]

Okay, I'll admit it. Films made in the 1890s are amazingly dull and difficult to watch unless you are a film historian. While audiences of the day adored them, they lacked plotting and acting--often consisting of people breathing, eating, talking to their friends or feeding a baby. Dull stuff. However, bucking this trend was Georges Méliès--a magician turned film maker who had an imagination--creating many new film techniques and telling real honest to goodness stories.

"Sur Les Toits" is set on the roof in Paris. An amazingly brutal scene starts the film as a lady appears to be tossed out the window by thieves. A stupid cop sees them and tries, ineptly, to capture them. That's it...after all, what can you do in only about a minute?! While the sets are pretty lame by today's standards, the painted rooftops were a nice advance for films and the film manages to scare and elicit a few laughs. Not at all bad for 1897.

Advanced Slapstick

[Tornado_Sam · 21 July 2018]

1897 was seeing a lot of progress for several different production companies, especially Star Film. This Méliès short shows how much he had stepped up from filming documentary snippets like the Lumière Brothers to advancing into a primitive, yet good for the time, form of slapstick. Unlike comedies today, the earliest films to fall in the slapstick genre were often only a minute long and featured the most outdated gags of gardeners getting sprayed by hoses, bill-posters fighting over walls, etc. Most of the time, little or no effort went into making these movies, yet audiences of the time received them well even though they have no real entertainment power in today's world. Despite the fact it was only the second year for the great director, though, he was already improving film comedy from its previous, one-gag form: not only does it have a set which looks as though some work was put into it, it also contains some original slapstick as well as a better, if unresolved, plot.

The movie begins with a woman being thrown to her death after some robbers break into her house. A very stupid police officer (who looks too big for the set) then enters the scene and attempts to catch them, only to become the victim of a trap. Simple, but original for a comedy of the time and not nearly as outdated as some of the earliest slapstick comedies from the period. Who knows? It could still give you a good chuckle or two even now as you look at the officer's butt hanging through the trapdoor in the ceiling.