User Reviews

A guy is trying to take off his clothes to take a bath. However, oddly, every time he takes off some clothes, new pieces appear on him! No matter how many times he tries, he cannot get his clothes off in order to bathe!

In the late 1890s, stage magician Georges Méliès began making films in which he performed "magic" by stopping the camera and rather seamlessly doing tricks--such as making things appear, disappear or change right before the audience's eyes. Often this was done for his comedies and this particular film by Alice Guy has clearly been inspired by her countryman's work. While it lacks the effortlessness of the other films, it is clever and will likely make you smile.

By 1903, Zecca had been a director for some years, so his purported appearance in front of the camera is an oddity. However, this is the sort of movie that Georges Melies made many times: the man takes off his clothes before bathing. As soon as he gets down to his polka-dotted underwear, a new set of outwear appears on him. Melies not only directed (and wrote and painted the sets; if ever there was an auteur in cinema, it was Melies), he starred in his movies.

So it was quite appropriate for director Zecca to appear in this one. It is the appearance of Alice Guy as director that becomes a matter of interest. Assuming that she directed -- there are lacunae in the records -- why was she needed?

It suggests that at the more industrially organized Gaumont, the value of a director was appreciated. Melies had begun as a stage performer. He could gauge the impact of his performance by looking at the audience. This gave him a sense of what would work when he made movies. While Zecca undoubtedly had this, there is too much risk in relying on self analysis. When the performer and the directorate one, the ego becomes involved. It was better, it was felt, to have another director serve as the audience's surrogate. Who better than the firm's senior director?

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.