Chimney Sweep, The (1906)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
aka Jack le ramoneur
Having seen over one-hundred films from Melies, to date this here is the worst. A poor chimney sweeper, a young child, dreams that he is rich and sitting on a throne as people dance for him. This 10-minute short was pretty much a chore to sit through and I can't remember a time when I was so bored with something from Melies filmmography. I've heard that this was Melies attempt to shine a light on child labor laws and perhaps what this was meant to be but that never really comes across on screen. Usually these longer Melies films come with a narration track and it's funny that I recently said they weren't needed but it actually was here. There's never any real idea where the film is trying to go or what it's trying to do. The fantasy sequence is way too boring to hold up the longer running time and there's not an ounce of that magic that Melies is so well-known for.