Georges Méliès was a stage magician before he became a film maker and used the camera to play tricks on his audiences. While today his methods seem pretty quaint and old fashioned, for his day they were pretty spectacular. "Magic Roses" is very typical of one of his films, as many of the shorts consisted of a stage magician (which APPEARS to be Méliès himself) doing his routine--making things appear and disappear. However, the theme is roses and most of what me creates involves these flowers as well as his usual subject--making ladies appear and disappear. Not bad at all--but also not particularly special or inspired. However, it was nice to see the pretty hand-stenciled cels--especially since they have recently been restored to their original vibrant look.
Now here is the rub. According to the DVD from Flicker Alley, this had been assumed to be a film of Méliès but really was a rip-off by Segundo de Chomon--trying to pass the film off as a Méliès movie! Now that's interesting--as is his blatant knock of of "Le Voyage Dan le Lune"!