Mesmerist and Country Couple (1899)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is yet another film from Edison that is clearly ripping off the work of Georges Melies. A couple go to see a mesmerist when he decides to make them think they're crazy by having countless things disappear in front of them. This type of trick film was perfected by Melies but it's always entertaining seeing other people trying to pull off the tricks. Needless to say, the work here isn't nearly as impressive as even the weakest Melies film. The biggest problem is that the edits are so obvious that none of the tricks will fool you. Yes, you could argue that you notice the edits in the Melies work, which is true but they're a lot more seamless than what we see here. Another problem is that the film is just missing a certain charm that runs in the Melies filmmography. Still, for fans of early cinema this is still worth watching just so you can compare the type of films that were being cranked out.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is yet another film from Edison that is clearly ripping off the work of Georges Melies. A couple go to see a mesmerist when he decides to make them think they're crazy by having countless things disappear in front of them. This type of trick film was perfected by Melies but it's always entertaining seeing other people trying to pull off the tricks. Needless to say, the work here isn't nearly as impressive as even the weakest Melies film. The biggest problem is that the edits are so obvious that none of the tricks will fool you. Yes, you could argue that you notice the edits in the Melies work, which is true but they're a lot more seamless than what we see here. Another problem is that the film is just missing a certain charm that runs in the Melies filmmography. Still, for fans of early cinema this is still worth watching just so you can compare the type of films that were being cranked out.