The Magician and the Human Pump (1901)
"Excelsior!" (original title)

The magician appears upon the stage with his assistant. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he causes an empty jar to suddenly appear under it. He places the empty jar upon the table and... See full summary »

Director:

Georges Méliès

Storyline

The magician appears upon the stage with his assistant. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he causes an empty jar to suddenly appear under it. He places the empty jar upon the table and seizing his assistant by one arm, begins pumping, when lo! a stream of water emits from the mouth of the assistant and fills the dish. One by one he takes six fishes from the mouth of his assistant and places them in the dish. The assistant is then commanded to hold the jar high above his head, and immediately it begins smoking, and a terrific explosion takes place, which, when the smoke clears away, leaves a flag in its place. The flag is unfolded, when there appears from behind it a huge lobster which suddenly turns into a man. The flag is placed over him, and when it is removed, there are two small children in his place, one seated upon the back of the other. These children are mysteriously turned into different objects until the jar of water finally re-appears with the fish in it. Now the ...

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Genres:

Short | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

France

Release Date:

May 1902 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Magician and the Human Pump

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

2 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Goofs

The opening credits have a typo affecting the title itself: EXCELIOR! instead of EXCELSIOR!

User Reviews

Prince Of Magicians, The

Prince Of Magicians, The (1901)

*** (out of 4)

aka Excelsior !

A magician (played by Melies) brings an assistant into his room where various tricks are pulled. This seems like a greatest hits package from the director who doesn't do anything too great here but all of the magic on display is quite good and makes for an entertaining film. One gag has Melies turn the man into a water fountain by spitting water out of his mouth into a bowl and then the director follows that up by pulling a fish out of the mouth. There's also a nice sequence where he turns a woman into two little girls. The final trick in the movie is also quite good and these are enough reasons to make this film worth viewing.