Extraordinary Illusions (1903) User Reviews

Three minutes of pure cine-magic with Georges Méliès

[wmorrow59 · 7/10 · 20 April 2002]

In this very brief film Georges Méliès, one-time stage magician, performs an extraordinary routine with a little help from a 'Magical Box,' a comely assistant, and that genuinely magical box, the motion picture camera. The act is presented as it would be on stage. We first see Méliès, wearing an Asian outfit, as he sits on a table before a curtain. In a wink he has traded his silk garments for a Western suit. Next, he assembles a woman before our eyes out of mannequin parts and brings her to life. In a flash he whips off her clothing -- revealing another outfit underneath -- but seems displeased when she changes into a man. And etc. etc., right up to an amusing final gag. Méliès was said to be an accomplished magician, but most of the tricks he performs here would have been impossible to do without the help of camera tricks and film editing.

Georges Méliès is best known for his famous sci-fi spectacular A Trip to the Moon, and several other elaborate productions along similar lines. Those works are delightful, but I also enjoy these brief, simple entertainments he produced so prolifically in the early days of his career as a filmmaker. These trick films are exhilarating and funny, and they convey great excitement for the new medium.

A magic show

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 September 2020]

Georges Méliès must have made at least a hundred films where he plays a magician performing for the viewing audience. This one is better than most, but still familiar as the filmmaker uses similar techniques and sets. Much of the trick involves stopping the film, making various changes and then re-starting the film to make it appear as if something disappeared or changed before your very eyes.

This one begins with Georges Méliès materializing before you. He then takes a magical box and pulls out pieces of a large female mannequin. Then, she becomes a living woman! In addition, her clothes change repeatedly and sometimes she turns into a clownish chef. It's all very rapid-fire and well done for 1903. But it's also a bit familiar if you've seen much of his work.

Extraordinary Illusions

[Michael_Elliott · 25 June 2008]

Extraordinary Illusions (1903)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka Illusions funambulesques

Georges Melies trick film has him once again playing a magician. His trick here is bringing a doll woman out on stage and then magically turning her into a real woman. That trick there is pretty good but I was more impressed with an earlier trick where Melies makes a table flip over countless times. The trick of Melies throwing the clothes on the woman is something he's done in previous films but the trick still works well here. I think a little more humor would have helped the film but there's no denying that the special effects still hold up quite well. The final trick of Melies turning invisible is impressive as well.