Now that Melies was competing with other movie companies, he had to do better than they. This is a lame attempt at physical comedy. A group of people come to get a photograph done. With them is what I suppose is a little boy. He has children's clothing on, but he must be at least 25 years old. After a few pratfalls, the people get situated for their portrait, but our imp has other ideas. If the photographer is a foil, he really doesn't deserve it.
2 Reviews
The American Comedy
Michael_Elliott20 August 2012
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.
** (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.
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