Movies by Segundo de Chomón

Magic Dice

Magic Dice

This is not only a colored film of great beauty, but one showing a series of clever trick pictures in which great ingenuity on the part of the operator is exhibited.

The Fairy of the Black Rocks

The Fairy of the Black Rocks

An old woman begs a young men to carry her heavy bundle of firewood. The man refuses: he rather goes to sleep. The woman, who turns out to be a witch, punishes him with terrible apparitions.

The Enchanted Pond

The Enchanted Pond

In an outdoor setting, a magician makes pond nymphs and frog people appear out of water and thin air.

International Dances

International Dances

A short dance film in Pathécolor, also know as stencil colouring. The editing cuts correspond with the dancers' costume changes. More about stencil colouring at http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1218/.

Lulù

Lulù

A monkey comes home and uses a magic wand to make himself dinner. No sooner as he falls asleep, a hungry burglar enters his house. This short film was made by Segundo de Chomón in 1923 in his private studio with the help of his wife and son, outside of any studio structure, and has never had a regular distribution.

Modern Sculptors

Modern Sculptors

The first scene presents before the astonished eyes of the spectators a solid piece of marble, which the minute it is placed on a table seems to take life, and one can follow a snake-like line branding on the polished face of the stone the name of the house of Pathé Frères. As soon as this stone has been engraved, as by magic, a handsome young lady appears with a huge lump of clay covered with a cloth. As soon as the cloth is removed from the soft mass it starts whirling and turning as if stricken mad, and one is asking one's self what all t...

Cagliostro's Folding Screen

Cagliostro's Folding Screen

A Trip to Jupiter

A Trip to Jupiter

The King and his official astronomer are alone in the study viewing the heavenly bodies through the monstrous telescope. They go out on the balcony and the gay old ruler is much absorbed in the phenomenon, and spends some time in studying the stars and planets. The evening has been well spent with the many mysteries which have made such a deep impression upon the King's mind that they are still with him in his dreams. (Moving Picture World synopsis)

The Vacuum Cleaner

The Vacuum Cleaner

In this funny picture we see the vacuum cleaner, the modern dust eradicator, performing some very droll tricks. As soon as the fellow turns on the air then the fun begins. It is all accomplished through some clever trick photography. First we see two attendants start out to do a cleaning job, and while they stop to take some refreshments, two men, who happen to be passing, take the machine and start down the sheet to have some fun. They meet a woman with a dog on a leash, and at a turn of the wheel, the dog and its mistress are quickly drawn...

The Cigar Box

The Cigar Box

People magically appear and disappear from an oversized musical cigar dispenser.

Loïe Fuller

Loïe Fuller

This is another short, simple dance number. It’s quite stunning and unusual though with a bat turning into a woman who proceeds to give us a skirt dance before disappearing into thin air. The dance is mesmerising with the skirt stunningly changing colour throughout the film.

Diabolical Physics

Diabolical Physics

The devil performs his magical powers.

Slippery Jim

Slippery Jim

Pickpock is behind bars. But more elusive than Arsène Lupin, no chain resists him and he plays with policemen like a cat with mice. After having masterfully taken them for a ride, having brought them down to an effigy, he rolls them up and throws them out the window. But the policemen come back to life and the chase goes on. Pickpock, caught a second time, locked up behind heavy bars, finds a new way of escaping and imprisoning in turn the policemen.

Unusual Cooking

Unusual Cooking

A chef comes into the kitchen and throws a lot of rags on the floor: he then casts a spell over them, and immediately they take the form of human beings, and dance a wild saraband around the place. After performing many unique tricks they disappear into space, and are replaced by a group of knives and forks, pans, kettles and spoons. (Moving Picture World)

The Magic Mirror

The Magic Mirror

A remarkable early short silent movie that shows what may be achieved with the technology of the day. A woman sits in front of her dressing table mirror, looking at her jewellery and her reflection in the mirror. Suddenly, another woman appears in the mirror. As the woman watches, the image changes to other women. As the woman looks at her jewellery, women's faces begin to appear in the jewellery stones.

The Troubadour

The Troubadour

On an elaborately decorated stage, the titular troubadour of the title bows. He then proceeds to pull several cards out of mid air and arrange them on the floor. Then, taking a banjo he multiplies himself into seven different troubadours, each playing a different musical instrument. A moment later, they all vanish and we are left with the troubadour who we were first introduced to at the beginning of the film. He explodes in a puff of smoke, and an enormous fan appears and unfolds. On it appears a vision of a castle tower with a maiden in it...