The Mischances of a Photograher (1908)
** (out of 4)
aka Les malheurs d'un photographe
When I read that this Georges Melies film was produced for the American market it really wasn't a shock after seeing the final product. This certainly isn't a bad movie but there's still no question that it doesn't succeed in working as a comedy. What we basically have is a group of people showing up to have their photo taken but the photographer keeps having issues getting them in the shot and then there's an annoying kid running around causing trouble. All of this "comedy" leads up to the final prank done by the kid but without spoiling anything, it just isn't funny. Again, as I go through Flick Alley's boxset, which allows you to view these films in order, it's becoming very clear that Melies just wasn't able to change with the times and this film is just a copycat of something others were doing much better. This here is clearly just for fans of the director who have to see everything he did.