A beautiful damsel comes onto stage and makes pigeons appear; then she transforms into a chimera, half woman, half fancy pigeon.
Segundo de Chomon, the film's director, was Pathe's answer to Georges Melies. This looks like a stage magic act, but there are clear signs that the first half is managed by running the film backwards: in the original shoot, she lifts the pigeons from their roosts and sets them flying offstage. The second half is more of a straight stage illusion. The whole thing is aided by some beautiful color stencil work that still survives in the copy I looked at.
Although this short lacks the vivacity of Melies' movies, it makes it up in its elaboration.
Segundo de Chomon, the film's director, was Pathe's answer to Georges Melies. This looks like a stage magic act, but there are clear signs that the first half is managed by running the film backwards: in the original shoot, she lifts the pigeons from their roosts and sets them flying offstage. The second half is more of a straight stage illusion. The whole thing is aided by some beautiful color stencil work that still survives in the copy I looked at.
Although this short lacks the vivacity of Melies' movies, it makes it up in its elaboration.
