Going to Bed with Difficulties (1900) User Reviews

Where Did You Get that Hat?

[boblipton · 8/10 · 13 March 2008]

Melies gives his audience another variation of his most popular and imitated -- including by him -- story of L'AUBERGE MYSTERIEUSE, as a man tries to get undressed for bed and new clothing keeps reappearing on him, particularly a long series of most unflattering headgear. Melies' comic agitation as he tries harder and harder to prepare for bed is wonderful.

This is one of the many previously lost or infrequently seen Melies pictures that have been made available by Serge Bromberg, David Shepherd and a myriad of other hands in the newly issued DVD set GEORGES MELIES: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA. Required viewing for anyone interested in the history of movies ..... and a lot of fun.

Pretty funny...even when you watch it today.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 September 2020]

This is not the only film like this that Georges Méliès made. Using the same exact techniques, he did the same. What the film consists of is a guy TRYING to take off his clothes, but every time he takes off a set of clothing, a new one, as if by magic, appeared on him! As the film progresses and this has happened MANY times, he becomes progressively more aggrevated. And, when he tries to go to bed..well you can probably guess what happens!

This is a cute little film and pretty good stuff considering it was made in 1900. Of course, to achieve the effect, the camera would be turned off...the man would take off or add a new set of clothes...then the camera would be restarted. But the relatively seamless fashion and sheer number of changes make this one a winner. Quite clever.

Rather reminds me of Chaplin...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 25 December 2023]

...although this was made by French filmmaker Georges Melies. Like Chaplin in "One AM", a seemingly inebriated fellow is having difficulty getting ready for bed. But then "One AM" is from 16 years later, so it is much more sophisticated.

Georges Melies plays the only person in this very short film as he attempts to take his clothes off in preparation for going to bed only to have his clothes reappear on his person. In the meantime, hats, coats, and pants begin to pile up about the hotel room.

The ending is lost and supposedly consists of the man rolling about on the floor and on the bed, and finally collapsing.

Some of Melies' stuff can seem repetitive, as though he's a one trick pony, but then you have to remember that most films were just "actualities" at this point - reflections of everyday life - and Melies was a pioneer in putting some narrative into his work, even before the dawn of the twentieth century.

Intricate Trickery

[Cineanalyst · 3 April 2010]

This trick film, "Going to Bed Under Difficulties", from cinema magician pioneer Georges Méliès is especially intricate. Numerous substitution-splices were required to achieve the continual appearance of more clothing on the weary traveller (of course, played by the director), as he futilely tries to undress. To make matters worse, his bed floats away. The effect remains impressive today, as well as amusing, thanks to Méliès's comedic ingenuity behind and in front of the camera.

"Going to Bed Under Difficulties" is an early and one of the better entries in the subgenre of a weary traveller suffering tricks at an inn, a formula from which Méliès made many films. The success of this particular trick film is demonstrated by the fact that other early filmmakers stole the idea and made their own imitations of it. Walter Booth and R.W. Paul's version, "Undressing Extraordinary" (1901) and Gaumont's Alice Guy's "How Monsieur Takes His Bath" (Comment Monsieur prend son bain) (1903) have also both been available in DVD compilations. A glance at other titles from the era suggests that other early producers did likewise. Moreover, remakes and dupes of many of Méliès's films can be found in the history of early cinema—further evidence that he was the most innovative filmmaker at the turn of the 20th century.

The endurance of this man is amazing.

[Kitahito · 6/10 · 27 March 2021]

I'm not some uncivilized brute, but after the third or forth failed attempt to get naked, I'd just go to sleep clothes on. And if the bed starts acting up (knowing Méliès, that's a certainty), you can use the discarded trousers, shirts and jackets to make a rudimentary bed. I'm sure that too would disappear at some point, but you have to at least try it, right? Really lovable and entertaining short film, by the way.

Some days you just can't take off all your clothes!

[Quinoa1984 · 9/10 · 10 May 2016]

The definition of a quick-witted in editing movie. All you get here is a man who is taking off his clothes... and then one of those edits happens where it appears that a new hat is there, so he takes that off, and then there's another edit where he has a jacket, and he takes that off, but then there's more pants and that's off and shoes and so on and so on. It's cinematic expression as a time-loop, with George Melies delivering an intricate series of edits.

The most clever part of all of this is how it doesn't really appear to be edits - that is to say, nothing is really too jerky that it took me out of the film. It's all rather seamless, which is a credit to his direction but also the actor playing the man. It's special effects really, though it's all with splicing together one image to another and then another and another. Today it would be done with computers of course, but what's maybe most remarkable is the thought that he planned this out so carefully.

I Got Tired Watching Him

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 11 November 2017]

The quick change animation is quite incredible. Once again we visit the man who wants to go to bed but he can't get undressed. This time, each item of clothing is hung up or put aside, but new clothes continue to cover his body. By the time the film ends, he has an entire wardrobe hanging on hooks. But the star is the guy who never gives up. He continues to remove clothing at a frantic pace, never giving up. Excellent work by the master.

Dumb - Just Dumb

[Rainey-Dawn · 2/10 · 12 July 2019]

A guy takes of his clothing to get some sleep and as fast as he takes them off more clothing appears on his body. Original idea but dumb.

2/10

He just can't undress

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 July 2015]

This is a French film by Georges Méliès. It runs for almost two minutes and thus considerably longer than most films of that day. And another difference is that Méliès films actually include acting and tell us a story, even if it's a fairly repetitive one, even at 100 seconds. A man tries to change his clothes, but it's just not working out. Every time he wears something new or something is gone that he did not pull off. Some nice use of trick photography here by the probably most known filmmaker of the early days and by 1900, Méliès already had a truly prolific career indeed. This is not among his best films, but still not bad either. Solid stuff, but gets repetitive very quickly.

Going To Bed Under Difficulties

[Michael_Elliott · 28 March 2008]

Going To Bed Under Difficulties (1900)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka Le Deshabillage impossible

This film here is pretty much just one gag but what an incredibly looking gag it is. A man gets home and can't wait to go to bed but first he must get undressed but each time he gets a new piece of clothing off a new one comes back on him. We've seen this type of joke from Melies before in the terms of someone trying to get undressed but can't but the joke here is expanded and is done at such a high rate of speed you can't help but just sit there and be amazed at what you're watching. I'm still not quite sure how Melies managed to do all of these magic tricks and the stuff on display here is among the best work of his career.