Because Georges Méliès had started out as a magician in real life, many of the brief little magic show snippets that he produced between 1896 and 1909 often reflected ideas from the live performances which he performed at his Théâtre Robert-Houdin. But, and aside from a few shorts he produced earlier on in his career, (before the 'discovery' of special effects), all of those magic show performances in truth relied entirely on camera tricks (used to make possible the fantastical events happening onscreen). Take, for instance "The Vanishing Lady", in which the legendary director recreates an on-stage magic routine using special effects--could have been performed live, but was realized with film editing. It wouldn't be at all surprising to find out that parts of this brief vignette were based on a live act as well.
Indeed, some of the illusions which are carried out onscreen in this short could have been performed on a stage, but are, once more, made possible through movie magic. Méliès, as usual, takes on the role of the magician, performing his conjuring tricks with that special energetic charm that you can't help but applaud. (One of the most impressive tricks to be viewed here is the mid-air transformation, which I'm sure wasn't easy to accomplish). Of course, I doubt the speed of the film is correct when we look at it today; after all, it appears slightly undercranked to add a quickness to the performance. For this particular short, it also helps mask the edits as well, although they appear to already be seamless enough either way. The edit used to make the dancer vanish is particularly well-executed.
On a side note, and in case you didn't read IMDb's trivia, I would like to point out that a second version of this short survives, featuring similar action but with a different set design and dancer. As far as I know, this second version is not available anywhere online, but was screened in 2011, yet not available online currently--as of this review.
Indeed, some of the illusions which are carried out onscreen in this short could have been performed on a stage, but are, once more, made possible through movie magic. Méliès, as usual, takes on the role of the magician, performing his conjuring tricks with that special energetic charm that you can't help but applaud. (One of the most impressive tricks to be viewed here is the mid-air transformation, which I'm sure wasn't easy to accomplish). Of course, I doubt the speed of the film is correct when we look at it today; after all, it appears slightly undercranked to add a quickness to the performance. For this particular short, it also helps mask the edits as well, although they appear to already be seamless enough either way. The edit used to make the dancer vanish is particularly well-executed.
On a side note, and in case you didn't read IMDb's trivia, I would like to point out that a second version of this short survives, featuring similar action but with a different set design and dancer. As far as I know, this second version is not available anywhere online, but was screened in 2011, yet not available online currently--as of this review.