A Mesmerian Experiment
A magician creates a troupe of dancers out of thin air.
From the archive
"A Mesmerian Experiment" was originally titled "Le Baquet de Mesmer" in French and it's another short from Georges Méliès. However, despite the title, it really has nothing to do with hypnosis (i.e., 'mesmerism'--named after the early hypnotist, Anton Mesmer). Like so many of Méliès' films, this one finds him playing the role of a magician--a common thing since in real life he was a stage magician. Here he's heavily disguised with fake hair and a HUGE beard and a period costume. He makes a group of women appear and they dance about. Nothing is particularly noteworthy about their dancing. Then, he makes another lady appear and she does some amazing acrobatic dancing--all while wearing an outfit that sure makes this look impossible! No, this wasn't magic--she was just very, very limber! In the end, he does what any man would do in this situation--he turns them into ducks! All in all, an average to below average magical film for Méliès. I've seen at least 15 to 20 of his magical films (probably more) and he has done better. Still, this is quite good by the standards of 1905 and it is worth seeing. -- 20 September 2011 | by planktonrules (Bradenton, Florida)
Why this is free to watch
A Mesmerian Experiment (1905) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Georges Méliès
- Starring
- Georges Méliès
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