The Ballet-Master's Dream (1903)

Original title

Le Rêve du maître de ballet

Directed by

Georges Méliès

Genre

fantasy film, comedy film, silent film

Country

France

Runtime

3 min

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 15 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A ballet master dreams of a dancer who performs eccentric moves. The film uses camera tricks to make people appear and disappear.

whimsicalplayfullightheartedsurrealfast-pacedvisual trickerytheatricalwhimsical

What happens

Le Rêve du maître de ballet, sold in the United States as The Ballet-Master's Dream and in Britain as The Dream of the Ballet Master, is a 1903 French silent trick film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 525–526 in its catalogues. Méliès plays the ballet master; the American catalogue description credits Zizi Papillon as the eccentric dancer. Papillon was a stage performer featured at the Folies Bergère and at the Casino de Paris. The special effects are created using substitution splices, multiple exposures, and dissolves. A paper print of the film survives at the Library of Congress. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• L'Auberge du Bon Repos (1903)
• Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid (1903)
• The Mystical Flame (1903)
• Excelsior! (1901)
• Alcofrisbas, the Master Magician (1903)
• The Drawing Lesson (1903)
• The New Lord of the Village (1907)
• The Untamable Whiskers (1904)