Faust and Marguerite
About Faust and Marguerite
Marguerite sits by a fireplace, Faust standing beside her. Mephistopheles comes in, offers Faust a sword, and orders him to behead her. Faust refuses. Mephistopheles draws the blade across her throat; she vanishes, and Faust is sitting in her place.
Cast & crew
More about Faust and Marguerite
Thomas A. Edison copyrighted the film on February 28, 1900, as D4734. The 1901 Edison catalogue lists it at 60 feet and gives the fireplace scene as the whole subject. Charles Musser notes that Edwin S. Porter was not hired by Edison until November 29, 1900, and that the picture may not have been made at the Edison studio.
Themes
Technique
The beheading is a substitution: Marguerite disappears from the chair and Faust is seated where she was.
Preservation
A paper print is in the Library of Congress, which offers a digital viewing copy.
Notes
- The Library of Congress times a paper-print viewing copy at 57 seconds at 16 frames per second.
- Kemp Niver catalogued it in the Paper Print Collection.
- Edison's catalogue text is the only contemporary description of the action.
- Wikipedia links the subject to Michel Carré's play Faust et Marguerite and to Gounod's 1859 opera, which was drawn from that play.
Scenes
- Mephistopheles draws the sword across Marguerite's throat and Faust appears in her chair.
Influenced by
- Michel Carré's Faust et Marguerite
- Charles Gounod's Faust (1859)
Also available
- Library of Congress
