Competing With Melies: Films by Segundo de Chomon (1902-1912)
A list of short films by Segundo de Chomon, the rival of Georges Melies. Several of these films are rip-offs while others are inspired by Melies's work. Many of these films are elaborately hand-colored by a stencil-coloring process and they are all available from YouTube.
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- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA short film featuring several dancers from different countries: first an Arabian dancer, then an Algerian belly dancer, and later some Scottish highlanders in kilts doing a Scottish jig. Rendered in hand-color.This film is another one of those popular dance films from the period, this one of a belly-dancer. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaA couple invites an old lady at home, after having seen her outside under the snow. The lady turns into a fairy and cast a spell to transform the winter season by spring.A partially colored trick film, early Chomon.
- A conjurer appears upon the stage with a small ordinary wooden table. Waving his hands, the heads of three men appear in succession upon the surface of the table, the bodies being entirely invisible. Pipes and cigars are handed to the heads and they begin smoking furiously, the smoke rising in great clouds, the heads in the meantime making humorous grimaces. The conjurer then throws two of the heads in the air, when they disappear, but the third is thrown upon the floor and suddenly becomes attached to the body of a giantess. The conjurer attempts to make love to her, but he is thrown violently to the floor. Upon recovering, by a wave of his hand, the conjuror makes the huge and ugly woman disappear in a cloud of smoke.An rip-off of Melies's "Fantastical Meal" from 1900. The film nearly copies the original Melies and I consider it to be one of Chomon's complete remakes of his rival.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónSegundo de Chomon documents a park in Barcelona, filming its extensive area, filled with trees and some constructions around. The innovation here is that instead of obtaining immobile images as usual in many films of the period, the director makes the camera move through the location, apparently shot while he was on a boat.A moving panorama shot documentary, one of several Chomon films about Barcelona. Tinted a light blue.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA soldier attempts to rest at an inn, but his bed plays tricks on him, never giving the poor man a chance to sleep. The inn continues to haunt him until it explodes into a pile of rubble.An imitation of Melies's usual plot of a traveler at an inn being haunted be apparitions. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA close-up of a magician's hand, in which appear gold coins. The hand drops the coins in a bowl, then a man leans into the picture and proceeds to let more coins tumble out of his mouth. The picture is hand-colored.A closeup magic act. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA diver dives into a pond. By the use of running the reel backwards, the diver appears to jump out backwards. He does this 10 times total, sometimes doing an elaborate flip, or jumping in with his back towards the camera.An experiment with running film backwards.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree young children set up a table, and on the table is placed a miniature stage. The stage curtain opens, a carpet appears, and then the carpet unrolls by itself. Two puppet figures then come out and begin to perform a series of routines.A stop-motion film, tinted pink.
- DirectorGaston VelleAt his palace, the Rajah's casket of jewels is stolen by an evil sorcerer. The Rajah's henchmen go on a search for the valuable casket and find it hidden in a cave, and out of the casket rises a bevy of dancing girls who in turn dance for the delight of the Rajah to end the film.A fragment of this early Arabian Nights fairy-tale survives, in some rather sloppy hand-color.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónIn this funny picture we see the vacuum cleaner, the modern dust eradicator, performing some very droll tricks. As soon as the fellow turns on the air then the fun begins. It is all accomplished through some clever trick photography. First we see two attendants start out to do a cleaning job, and while they stop to take some refreshments, two men, who happen to be passing, take the machine and start down the sheet to have some fun. They meet a woman with a dog on a leash, and at a turn of the wheel, the dog and its mistress are quickly drawn into the spout. Next a nursemaid comes sauntering down the street, and when they level the spout at her she meets the same fate. A girl and her lover are the next to disappear off the face of the earth, and still they go along, looking for more victims. Coming to a house, one of the men climbs in a window, and when the one outside turns the crank all the furnishings of the house are drawn into the machine. A maid rushes in to find out the cause of the commotion, but before she can look around, she also is swallowed up. As they move down the street they draw up two bales of straw, and then, as they stop in front of a meat store, it is amusing to see all the provisions hopping up and jumping into the machine. Two policemen now become interested in the pair, but pay for their curiosity by being drawn up also. Tired and exhausted, the fellows sit down to have a drink, but while their backs are turned some men steal the machine, and before they realize what has happened, they also go flying up the spout. The end of this film shows the men reversing the wheel and releasing all the victims, and it is an amusing sight to see them all come tumbling out of the spout onto the town in a heap.A clever use of substitution splicing.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA magician performs a magic show involving women turning into bouquets of roses. Later the roses are festooned together in a fancy way to decorate the stage.Once mistaken as Melies work. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA shepherd fights with his wife and storms out of their cottage. Falling asleep he is visited by apparitions who taunt him. Waking up, he regrets the fight and makes up.A trick film/comedy, partially colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónLucien NonguetFeatures a painter in trouble with his landlord. Then, magical dancing safes appear and the painter selects a bag of gold from each, and plays with his money until a fairy appears and escorts him to a fairy land where fairies dance for his delight. Meanwhile the painters' model comes back to his studio, where the painter tries to hang himself, when the rope breaks, and upon which the model enters the studio to find the painter on the floor.An odd, hand-painted little fairy tale from Chomon.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA man tries to shave, but his mirror keeps playing tricks on him.A comedic, hand-tinted short film with hammy acting.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaA magic act of transformations. A woman places a bust on a table which comes to life briefly before transforming into dancing midgets and a butterfly whose wings keep changing into a variety of patterns. Lastly the woman pulls two babies out of a large cabbage.A transformation magic act. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónOut of a spin-around door on a cylinder-shaped box comes a magician, who proceeds to conjure dancing girls out of the box. At one point he also lights 5 cigars from the box, which magically transform into more dancing girls. Tinted remarkably.A magic act with dancing ladies. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne Mathieu"Music Forward!" is the order given by a lady in Colonial costume, and in march a group of five musicians, working industriously at their instruments. The directress stands them in a row, and taking the head off each, throws it onto a huge music staff and each becomes a note of the scale. The whole bodies appear again, after which the manipulator seems to wrap them up in a large sheet of music, which is then shown to contain nothing. The paper is rolled up again, and a cane is held, perpendicularly, in a horizontal position to the sheet, when the musicians, each about one-twentieth of the natural stature, issue from the paper and parade up and down the narrow stick. This done, a pretty effect in human notes, which are the players' heads, is shown, after which the little band and their directress march out again.Clearly inspired by Melies as it uses the gag of heads as music notes. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuThis fragment of a 1907 film is tinted green. It features a maidservant making imps and nymphs appear and disappear.Tinted green, this is a fragment of a magic act that takes place by a pond.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuA woman appears on a stage and conjures up several large eggs. When each egg is opened a dancing midget or midgets is revealed to be inside, and in turn each midget does a brief dance. To end the act the woman turns the eggs into babies.A magic act with eggs. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA family troupe of acrobats, made up to appear Japanese, perform various unbelievable stunts in front of the camera, achieved through a trick of the camera.One of Chomon's most well-known films with acrobats doing amazing impossible stunts. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA Brahman stuffs a serpent into a cocoon, and a butterfly woman comes out. She makes more butterflies come out of the same cocoon till a whole crowd of them are swarming the jungle. When the Brahman tries to catch the queen she turns him into the serpent who slinks off into the jungle.An obvious rip-off of Melies's "Brahman and the Butterfly" from 1901. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaStarsJulienne MathieuA demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.Chomon, like Melies, uses the Devil as the main character in this 1907 trick film. Colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónIn a bower of giant tulips a boy and girl practice flower magic. They cause flowers and birds to open and human forms to issue therefrom, and on the black background of the wonderful garden there appear myriad flowers, in the center of each of which is a smiling feminine head. Tableaux showing pretty girl and flower effects are plentiful and the film winds up with a burst of multi-colored flame, which shoots in fiery splendor from leaves and petals.A trick film with flowery elaborate sets and back-drops. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA sorcerer draws signs on the sand making charming young women.A hand-colored magic show, simplistic effects.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónDuring his daily promenade, a fine gentleman in his impeccably crisp suit wearing a black and broad-brimmed top hat is yawning incessantly.A comedy film from Chomon with nearly no effects at all.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaA sorcerer tosses an iridescent little beetle into a flaming ceremonial cauldron, and much to his amazement, a six-winged fairy in the body of a beautiful young woman emerges. Is his sorcery potent enough to tame her?Hand-colored trick film from Chomon. Can be found on Kino Lorber's "Movies Begin" set.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree friends go on a trip and decided to rest at an abandoned house. Everything seems pretty normal until really weird things start to happen.A popular horror film with interesting uses of stop-motion.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuAndré DeedIn the middle of a theatre stage, much to our surprise, a modern sculptor's minuscule creations come to life, until the grand finale where an astonishing metamorphosis awaits.Stop-motion trick film in which clay sculpts itself into statues.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónProving adept at every possible camera trick, Segundo de Chomón was brought by Charles Pathé to his studio at Vincennes, near Paris, to make trick films in imitation of Jules Verne (such as this one, inspired by A Trip to the Moon (1902)).Chomon's complete rip-off of "A Trip to the Moon." Once this short was indeed mistaken as that film.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA spider captures the Queen of the Bees.The first 15 seconds of this film survive in color while the rest is black & white.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuA fragment of a longer film involving a mysterious suitcase in which two individuals climb into. The suitcase rises into the air spouting smoke and flames.A fragment of an illusion film. Hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA Pierriette, standing near a crescent moon, snatches five pink suits from the air, and shaking each, it becomes a clown, who seats himself on the moon. In military unison they push their faces through a series of grimaces, and then leaning forward too far, they all go falling down from the moon. It is a long drop, but they reach some kind of bottom and there they execute a peculiar dance; as each jumps over the other in a game of leap-frog, he is transformed into a grotesquely attired negro minstrel, and from that guise into that of a Chinaman. Several dances, in the course of which they also change to girls, follow each other, after which, coming back to their own again, the five clowns begin to fall upward, and are soon back on the moon again.An example of Chomon borrowing Melies's ideas to make a completely different kind of film. Hand-colored (colors nearly faded).
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuFrom the rocky center of a fountain a fairy emerges, and with a wave of her wand she causes to appear a huge, green bullfrog, which begins to hop around the fountain. Suddenly the rocks disappear and the scene is enveloped in showers of multi-colored fire; when the rocks again appear there is a tableau of posing girls revolving round it. Several changes of pose and costume now take place, embracing the artistic employment of white horses and heroic male figures, and one change reveals only a gigantic green frog. The film closes with the appearance of the fairy once more.A hand-colored trick film.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónExperimental color film that shows a magician and his assistant making objects and people appear and disappear. Then they stack up some blocks and a moving picture of a little girl appears on them.A Chinese magic act, hand-colored.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA Japanese magician and two boys bring to life a silkscreen of a woman. The woman then gets on a pedestal and the man wraps her in paper. He sets fire to the paper, and she disappears. He jumps in the fire and also disappears. Five women materialize with umbrellas. They disappear, and the umbrellas float up and disappear. The magician and the woman reappear. They tear up paper, tossing into the air the pieces which turn into butterflies. Two magician and two women then draw a silk worm on a screen. From Moving Picture World: "The animal takes life and starts spinning its cocoon and is soon hidden in its silken prison. The cocoon being now fully in view, it suddenly splits open and a beautiful butterfly takes its flight. After having fluttered for a while the magnificent insect comes back to earth and then undergoes a number of changes, presenting to the astonished eye of the spectator the most glorious display of colors, which blend from the darkest shades into the most delicate hues. This marvelous color dream over the butterfly transforms itself once more and a charming young woman makes one soon forget the beauties of the previous wonder by eclipsing it with a most graceful and fascinating Loie Fuller dance. This feat at an end the woman disappears as by enchantment, and the last scene shows a thousand butterflies rising towards heaven."A hand-colored magic act.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsSegundo de ChomónJulienne MathieuAn enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.A stop-motion comedy film.
- DirectorAlbert CapellaniLucien NonguetStarsJulienne MathieuA beautiful daughter having been born to the king and queen, the nine most important fairies of the country are called upon to be godmother of the child, and as the ceremony takes place each blesses the child with a special virtue or talent. The welfare of the child seems assured, when all at once the oldest, ugliest and therefore forgotten fairy, appears on the scene and, furious at the slight, puts upon her, curses the baby princess and predicts that she will die poisoned by the prick of the spool of a spinning wheel. The godmother fairies, however, sooth the grief-stricken mother by telling her that her daughter will not die but only fall asleep, as well as everything living which surrounds her for one hundred years. To avoid this calamity, the king orders that every spinning wheel be destroyed under penalty of death, and the king's messenger is seen reading the command. The next scene shows the grown-up princess closely watched by a stately matron. This trusted servant, however, apparently growing too old for her task, falls asleep, and in a moment the princess is out of her apartment bound on an investigation tour. She comes to a small stairway leading to a garret and there, to her astonishment, finds an old woman spinning. Having never seen a spool, she tries to imitate the old dame, but alas, pricking her finger, falls into a dead sleep. Then is shown on the screen the whole castle in peaceful slumber, the hedges growing up and hiding the castle from view, for thus it must remain undisturbed for one hundred years. The next scene represents a young and dashing prince going out with his suite for a hunt, and one can easily detect by the difference in their attire that they belong to another epoch than that in which the charming princess lived. We follow the prince through the woods and dales until dusk, coming unawares, he finds himself lost in a thick bush. He calls for help, and an old shriveled man appears who, with one movement of his stick, causes the shrubs and trees to make way, and there appears to the eyes of the astonished rider a most beautiful castle. Pushed forward by curiosity, he rushes to the entrance, the doors opening before him as he goes along. In the chambers and halls everything is stillness and sleep, but he does not stop to think, being apparently carried along by an irresistible force, until he reaches the bedchamber of the slumbering princess. At sight of this beautiful, picture of youth, he falls on his knees, kisses the hand of the sleeper, and as by magic everything in the castle awakes and comes back to life. The last scene shows the prince and princess surrounded by their attendants and rejoicing over their good fortune.An early hand-colored version of the fairy-tale, a lavish production.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA pickpocket in a plaid suit is constantly on the run from the police. He doesn't have any trouble evading the cops, as his magic powers can get him out of the tightest situations. Using special effects, the pickpocket can jump into tight suitcases, unravel into a plaid rug, and disappear into thin air, among other things.A clever film using stop tricks and putting them to great use.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA chef comes into the kitchen and throws a lot of rags on the floor: he then casts a spell over them, and immediately they take the form of human beings, and dance a wild saraband around the place. After performing many unique tricks they disappear into space, and are replaced by a group of knives and forks, pans, kettles and spoons. These are all supplied with arms and legs, and dance around the chef as he lies on the floor. Soon one of the knives and forks, drawing near to his prostrate body, proceed to cut him into many small pieces, which are then placed in a pan to be made into a delicious stew.A stop-motion film from Chomon.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónIn a medieval palace, an astronomer with a telescope shows the king.A lavish hand-colored film, no doubt inspired a bit by Melies's "A Trip to the Moon."
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónOn a fine winter morning, an aristocratic couple of city dwellers decide to have a picnic in the great outdoors, however, everything seems to go wrong, all at once.A stop-motion comedy film from Chomon.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónSome shadows in a street wall turned into a bunch of eight crackpots, each of them playing a different musical instrument. Then they changed into several objects like a drum or umbrellas and, finally, they completely disappeared.A comedic stop-motion film.
- DirectorGiuseppe de LiguoroSegundo de ChomónStarsMaria BrioschiGiuseppe de LiguoroSalvatore PapaA short hand-colored film showing different sites from Burgos.A hand-colored travelogue film featuring different sites around Barcelona.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónA Spanish town where boats take the place of taxicabs, as beautiful as the famous Italian city.A documentary about Barcelona.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsFrance MathieuThe most famous magician is outdone in this film, for, by the simple means of a wand and an empty glass, toys are transformed into animals, animals into flowers and flowers into a bevy of beautiful girls.A trick film using elaborate closeups.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuAn old hag asks a young man to carry a bundle of firewood for her. He refuses; the hag reveals herself to be a witch, and in revenge punishes him with apparitions.