Apparitions
About Apparitions
An elderly traveler, played by Méliès, arrives at an inn and makes a pass at the maid. He sits down to read by candlelight. The candle slides around the table, grows huge, and sets the newspaper on fire. A woman comes out of the flame. When he kneels to her she turns into a shrouded ghost, dances in a blur, and walks through him. He swings at it, smashes his dinner tray, and the hotel staff laugh.
Cast & crew
More about Apparitions
French title Le Revenant. Also sold as The Apparition, or Mr. Jones' Comical Experience With a Ghost, and as The Ghost and the Candle. Star Film numbers 501–502. A 2008 video release used the title Apparitions.
Themes
Background
A 1903 Star Film ghost gag set in one inn room.
Technique
Pyrotechnics for the burning paper, with soft focus, multiple exposures, and substitution splices for the ghost.
Preservation
Prints are on Wikimedia Commons and the Internet Archive under the French title Le Revenant.
Notes
- The tricks mix pyrotechnics, soft focus, multiple exposures, and substitution splices.
- Star Film numbers 501–502.
Scenes
- The candle grows until the newspaper catches fire and a woman steps out of it.
- The ghost walks through the traveler and he smashes the tray.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-le-revenant-aka-apparitions)
- Wikimedia Commons (Le Revenant (1903).webm)
