L'Auberge ensorcelée

Bewitched Inn, The (1897)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka L'Auberge ensorcelee

Melies plays a man who shows up at his motel room where ghostly things start happening right from the start. We get to witness all sorts of magic tricks throughout this film including his clothes flying through the air, his boots walking off and of course a scene where he goes to sit in a chair only to have the chair move on him. The special effects are, needless to say, terrific and it's amazing at how well they hold up today. The magic Melies brings to the screen is certainly something very special and this film contains plenty of laughs to keep you entertained. The highlight of the film has to be the exploding candle.

A weary traveller (played by the film's director, Georges Méliès) settles down in a room for the night but is plagued by disappearing and reappearing items, and clothing that moves by itself. When his bed and chair vanish and come back, it all proves too much for the man, who leaves in a fluster.

Locking off the camera, stopping the film, moving the props, and then restarting the camera was cutting-edge stuff in 1897, and the result must have seemed like magic to the audience, but these days the same trick (and much more) can easily be achieved using a phone. Other objects in Méliès' pioneering 2 minute short are obviously moved by wires. Undeniably a landmark moment in the history of special effects cinema, but the fact is, to the vast majority of today's viewers, The Bewitched Inn will seem like extremely crude stuff, both technically and comedically.

This is a simple but highly appealing short film--and one of the very best from Georges Méliès' early work. Méliès was a stage magician who decided to incorporate magic into films and used a variety of techniques that were novel for the time to make his movie seem magical. Often, just by stopping and restarting the camera, he could make it appear as if things vanish or reappear! Nowadays, folks can easily see how this is done, but at the time it was hot stuff--so hot, other filmmakers started stealing his tricks and even made films that you swear were made by Georges Méliès himself!

"The Bewitched Inn" stands out because although it uses the standard sorts of camera tricks, it also has a wonderful sense of humor. So, not only do things appear and disappear, but the room appears to be deliberately antagonizing the poor man (as usual, played by the director himself). You really have to feel sorry for the guy, as again and again the room gets the better of him! Cute and well worth seeing.

An early Melies movie, and all the tricks must have seemed fantastical to audiences of the day. Today, it quickly grows repetitive.

Once more, a traveller finds himself in a nightmare. He tries to simply enjoy a good night's rest. While his is getting ready, various pieces of furniture disappear and reappear. At one point, he takes off his pants and they fly through the air. Soon it's his bed. The man is frantic and overacts like crazy, which is great fun. These crazy living quarters are a real treat and must have been a delight to the viewers.