How Monsieur Takes His Bath (1903)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Faust and Mephistopheles (1903)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
These two films from Alice Guy feature her obviously trying to capture the joy and spirit of a George Melies film but neither one really lives up to being anything overly special. HOW MONSIEUR TAKES HIS BATH is one big gimmick as a man keeps trying to take his clothes off for a bath but each time he gets a piece off another takes its place. This here is actually a remake of a 1900 Melies film called GOING TO BED UNDER DIFFICULTIES, which featured a man trying to get his clothes off to go to bed but having them replaced by more clothes. This Guy film really doesn't capture any of the spirit of that Melies film, which in my opinion is one of his best. This film contains a few nice effects but there's just no heart or soul in anything we see so you'd have to ask yourself why would you bother when you could simply watch the Melies film. FAUST AND MEPHISTOPHELES is yet another version of the Faust story with this time it being told in the same fashion of Melies as the man signs the contract and soon Faust has various demons taking shape. This short is decent but once again you really have to wonder why you'd spend time with it considering Melies was doing the same time of work and making the films much more enjoyable. The effects here are fairly good but the overall feel of the film just can't compare to that other French master.