A Miracle Under the Inquisition
About A Miracle Under the Inquisition
An inquisitor and two henchmen tie a woman to a stake and light the fire. An angel interrupts the burning. Méliès plays the executioner. The miracle is done with pyrotechnics, substitution splices, and dissolves.
Cast & crew
More about A Miracle Under the Inquisition
Georges Méliès directed this Star Film trick picture, numbers 558–559. The French title is Un miracle sous l'inquisition. The British title is A Miracle of the Inquisition. Mademoiselle Bodson plays the accused woman. Wikidata times it at 3 minutes. Her costume, four large squares embroidered with animals, was used again in The Witch and in The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess.
Themes
Making
The stake is a stage set with practical fire, cut together with the angel's appearance.
Technique
The miracle combines pyrotechnics, substitution splices, and dissolves in one short scene.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A print is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Méliès is the executioner, not the inquisitor and not the angel.
- The woman's dress is a studio costume Méliès kept for later films.
- The rescue depends on a dissolve and a substitution splice as well as real flame.
- The American title on the catalog is A Miracle Under the Inquisition.
Scenes
- The inquisitor's men light the pyre.
- An angel appears and the burning is interrupted.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Un miracle sous l'inquisition (1904).webm)
