Dream of a Rarebit Fiend

What an amazing cinematic experience! Just as Porter's influence was starting to wane, he makes what is arguably his most visually stunning film. Though not as famous as "Life of an American Fireman", Rarebit Fiend is a clever, captivating piece of film history.

The 'plot' as such is irrelevant - what the film does is take opportunities to showcase as many new special effects as it possibly can. Tricks of space, dimension, time, both in-camera and on set, create one of cinema's first convincing nightmare perspectives. Predating the surrealist era by decades, Porter's film is a must see for all fans of non-linear and non-traditional film-making.

With a slight but bizarre story, and all kinds of special visual effects, this is one of the weirder but more interesting features of its era. It's not really a great film, since some parts of it don't quite work as well, but it's very interesting, and it would still be interesting even if it had been made some years later.

The story comes from some of Winsor McCay's comic strips about the "Rarebit Fiend", and the offbeat material indeed seems ready-made for cinema. There is just enough to the scenario to allow for a wide range of camera effects. Several sequences effectively and creatively combine panning shots and stationary views superimposed on each other to create an effect. The "whirling" effect, towards the beginning of the movie, might be the best one.

There are a number of other features from the first decade of the 1900s that might be even better in terms of the visuals, and/or that are more enjoyable as narratives, but this is still one of the movies that those who enjoy watching these very old films should make a point of seeing. It's unusual, experimental, and interesting.

After sloppily overindulging in 'Welsh rarebit' and wine, the titular 'fiend' (Jack Brawn) staggers home only to experience devilish headaches and horrifying dreams. This ancient silent comedy, directed and filmed by Edison men Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter, was inspired by one of a series of eponymous 1904 comic strips drawn by Winsor McCay that featured the dire consequences of overconsumption of the 'beer, bread and cheese' concoction. The short is full of imaginative special effects that, although primitive by modern standards, were quite sophisticated at the time, including miniatures, stop-motion, double-exposures, mattes, and other assorted camera tricks. The overall effect is quite well-done and humorous, especially when the fiend experiences the dreaded 'bed-spins'.

Famous fantasy short with a moral: a man spends a night stuffing himself with food and drink in a restaurant; stumbling his way home, he sees the buildings 'dancing' around him and, on arriving, things only get worse. The bed starts to shake violently as if possessed and even throws itself, with the man still tucked in, through the window (the film's single funniest bit)! Flying around town a' la Scrooge, he's sure to have learnt his lesson by the next morning.

As far as I know, the only other Porter film I've watched is THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903), celebrated for being the first Western; this one, then, contains a number of crude camera tricks in the contemporary style of Frenchman Georges Melies. Incidentally (and Michael Elliott is sure to raise an eyebrow or two at this!), in spite of their undeniable historical value, I can't bring myself to appreciate such primitive stuff other than as mere curiosities…

A man way overindulges in food and drink and then pays the price in bad dreams and hallucinations. All the man wants to do is go to bed and sleep it off but no sweet dreams for him. Instead there's a jumping and swirling bed, devil imps on the man's head, the drunk and the lamp post bit, and other well done special effects. Is this film historically important? Well, sure. It's directed by Edwin Porter and is inspired by a Windsor McCay comic strip and is a marvel of trick photography. And all of that is important. But what I found amazing (and perhaps shouldn't have) was how very entertaining and fun a 1906 six plus minute film could be. This little film is both fascinating and a lot of fun.