Dream of a Rarebit Fiend

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…

To fully appreciate an old film and its contribution to cinema, one has to be fully educated in the technology of the times it was made. Hence, the appreciation of Dream of a Rarebit Fiend, created in 1906, is a leap in special effects that even the wizard of film effects, George Melies, must have enjoyed seeing at the time of its release.

Others on the board have given a concise history of the brains behinds this project--Edwin Porter, the Edison Manufacturing Company premier director, teamed up with cartoonist Winsor McCay, he of Little Nemo comic strip and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, to produce this 7-minute gem.

Comedian John "Jack" Brawn provides the pratfalls as he succumbs to an evenings' worth of nightmares after gorging on Welsh Rabit, a combination of melted cheese over toast. Porter's in-camera special effects forged new ground in trick photography that became imitated by others afterwards. His revolving film of backgrounds matted his foregrounds of Brawn and objects (like a light post and his bed) which served to mesmerize audiences when Rarebit first was released,

The movie was the most successful of Edisons' releases in 1906, where he sold almost 200 copies of Rabebit to nickelodeons and film exchanges that year, an almost unheard of number prints purchased in a single year up to that time.

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.

A man is having a bit too much of a good time out on the town – drinking and eating far too much. He stumbles home and goes to bed but it is clear to the audience that the effects of his drinking habits are far from being out of his system.

A simple film this one but one that is interesting for its place in cinema history. The title is the plot and the first few scenes of the film are really just there to get our character into bed and falling into a drunken deep sleep. The main thing the film wants to do is how many visual effects it can then produce. In this case it achieves this really well and sets up a memorable dream sequence that is imaginative and technically impressive. As with all films from this period, it is worth keeping it in the context of the period and what other things were being done with other films. With this in the mind the film is worth seeing because it is imaginative but more than that it is technically impressive at a time when cinema was just starting to develop.

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.