Misfortune Never Comes Alone (1903)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
aka Un Malheur N'arrive Jamaisseul
Fun comedy from Melies has a soldier standing guard over a door but when he falls asleep on the job another man comes along and decides to play a trick on him by removing his gun and putting a water hose in his hands instead. There's some nice slapstick going on here, which wasn't seen too much in these early days. Overall the film doesn't quite work because there aren't enough laughs but Melies eye for comedy is certainly better here than in some of his previous comedies. The best scene has a big man getting sprayed by the hose only to get revenge by blasting anyone he can see.