Movies Like Disappearing Act (1898)

Faust and Mephistopheles

1903

A re-telling of the classic tale of Faust in all of two minutes by French filmmaker Alice Guy.

The Merry Frolics of Satan

1906

Two travellers are tormented by Satan from inn to inn and eventually experience a buggy ride through the heavens courtesy of the Devil before he takes one of them down to Hell and roasts him on a spit.

The Untamable Whiskers

1904

The background of this picture represents a scene along the beautiful river Seine in Paris. A gentleman enters, and taking a blackboard from the side of the picture, he draws on it a sketch of a novelist. Then, standing in the centre, he causes the living features of his sketch to appear in the place of his own, which is utterly devoid of whiskers. The change is made so mysteriously that the eye cannot notice it until one sees quite another person in the place of the first. Again another sketch is shown on the board, this one being that of a miser; then an English cockney; a comic character; a French policeman, and last of all, the grinning visage of Mephistopheles. It is almost impossible to give this film a more definite description; suffice it to say that it is something entirely new in motion pictures and is sure to please. (Méliès Catalog)

A Fantastical Meal

1900

A family sits down to enjoy a meal that ends up being fraught with complications.

The Magician's Cavern

1901

A very enthusiastic magician performs several tricks.

Adventures of William Tell

1898

The scene opens in an artist's studio where the unfinished statue of William Tell stands upon a pedestal. A clown appears and sticks a clay arm and clay head on the statue, thus completing it. He places a large brick on top of the head to make it stick. When he turns his back the statue turns into a living representation of William Tell. (Edison Catalog)

The Infernal Cake-Walk

1903

Pluto, having seen the earth, comes back home amazed at the success of that well-known dance, the "cake-walk." He has brought back with him two noted well-known dancers, who start their favorite dance amidst the flames.

The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood

1900

The picture opens with the Sultan lying down to rest on his luxurious cushioned couch. The scene changes to the grounds around the palace.

The Living Playing Cards

1905

Bluebeard

1901

A young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.

The Red Spectre

1907

A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.

The Magic Lantern

1903

Two impish clowns construct a magic lantern. They prop it up at an angle, and use it to project pictures onto a wall. When the picture show ends, they open up the lantern to reveal a group of dancing girls inside - and this is only the first of the indications that this lantern really is magical.

A Spiritualist Photographer

1903

A magician transforms a woman into a portrait of herself, then restores her to life.

Addition and Subtraction

1900

A magician performs tricks involving three women, who are sometimes merged together into one corpulent female.

How He Missed His Train

1900

A man misses his train due to his clothes turning into other types of clothes.

The X-Ray Fiend

1897

A romantic couple are transformed into skeletons via X-Rays. The film combines two very recent innovations: Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, and Georges Méliès' accidental realisation of the special-effects potential of the jump-cut in 1896.

The Haunted Curiosity Shop

1901

An old proprietor is startled and haunted by the strange happenings inside his curiosity shop.

The Treasures of Satan

1902

The setting of this fantastic scene represents the hall of an old chateau in which a miser has locked up seven large bags containing his wealth. Satan, who has made his way into the chateau, puts the seven bags in a strong box, and makes with his hands some cabalistic motions. The miser comes into the hall and is greatly astonished to find his fortune missing. He opens the coffer and immediately the bags leap out. He gathers them up and puts them back into the coffer. When he opens it again he finds that they have been transformed into seven young girls, who rush out and chase after him, beating him unmercifully. They shut him up in the coffer from which his gold has vanished. The miser pushes open the lid of the coffer, and to his profound despair finds that both young girls and money have disappeared. (This view is most sensational in its mysterious scenes.) (Star Film Catalog)

Sherlock Holmes Baffled

1900

Sherlock Holmes enters his drawing room to find it being burgled, but on confronting the villain is surprised when the latter disappears.

Witch's Cradle

1944

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.