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The Legend of Rip Van Winkle

Original title: La légende de Rip Van Winkle
  • 19051905
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 10m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
305
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
  • Short
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
Pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies tells his version of the famous Washington Irving story of a man who takes a nap and wakes up 20 years later.Pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies tells his version of the famous Washington Irving story of a man who takes a nap and wakes up 20 years later.Pioneer filmmaker Georges Melies tells his version of the famous Washington Irving story of a man who takes a nap and wakes up 20 years later.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
305
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Georges Méliès
  • Writer
    • Washington Irving
  • Stars
    • André Méliès
    • Georges Méliès
Top credits
  • Director
    • Georges Méliès
  • Writer
    • Washington Irving
  • Stars
    • André Méliès
    • Georges Méliès
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 6User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
    La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)

    Top cast

    Edit
    André Méliès
    • Child Carrying Lanternas Child Carrying Lantern
    Georges Méliès
    Georges Méliès
    • Rip Van Winkleas Rip Van Winkle
    • Director
      • Georges Méliès
    • Writer
      • Washington Irving
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In this loose adaptation of American writer Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" original story and French composer Robert Planquette's famous 1882 operetta, the indefatigable director, Georges Méliès, unfolds an enchanting woodland fantasy in seventeen vibrant scenes. Incorporating strong elements of ingenious stage tricks and theatrics, mechanical devices, cinematic special effects, and gradual dissolves between tableaux to move from stark reality to rich phantasmagoria, the unsuspecting Rip's ordeal begins shortly after his escape to the mountains to flee the local authorities' wrath. However, in the seemingly safe woods, a captivatingly eerie and haunting dream sequence will condemn our hero in a profound and almost mystical twenty-year slumber. Will the world be the same after two decades of deep sleep? —Nick Riganas
    • dream
    • rip van winkle
    • 1900s
    • 900s
    • adaptation
    • 51 more
    • Plot summary
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    • Genres
      • Short
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Star Film 756 - 775.

    User reviews6

    Review
    Top review
    Francized Rip Van Winkle
    Frenchman Georges Méliès's film is quite removed from the original American story by Washington Irving. John Frazer ("Artificially Arranged Scenes") says it was based more on the fellow Frenchman Robert Planquette's comic operetta. In this 14-minutes-long forest fantasy, the revolutionary American politics are gone and Rip's 20-year-slumber is framed as a drunken dream. And, of course, it's made to display Méliès's usual magical, cinematic and theatrical tricks.

    This is the first instance I've seen of title cards describing parts of the story in a Méliès film. The narration on the Flicker Alley DVDs doesn't make them necessary, but they were probably helpful for any viewers back then without a lecturer to describe the film.

    According to Frazer, this film "did not sell well despite the fact that Irving's story is a natural vehicle for Méliès' fantasy. To a certain extent Méliès was beginning to have Rip Van Winkle's problem. He was a dreamer from another century and somewhat out of touch with the directions that the film world was beginning to take." While I generally agree that Méliès's films were in decline, this particular film, "Rip's Dream", is actually enjoyable compared to other Méliès films from around the same time. In addition to the benefit of seeing a hand-colored print, there's quite a lot going on in this one. One aspect I particularly liked was the synchronized stylized movements and walking early on.
    helpful•1
    0
    • Cineanalyst
    • Aug 16, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 25, 1905 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Languages
      • None
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Rip's Dream
    • Filming locations
      • Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
    • Production companies
      • Georges Méliès
      • Star-Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      10 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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    Georges Méliès in La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905)
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    By what name was La légende de Rip Van Winkle (1905) officially released in Canada in English?
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