Jack Jags and Dum Dum
About Jack Jags and Dum Dum
Dum Dum, played by Georges Méliès, sets a mannequin on a music-hall bench and starts to dance, until a rival in a frock coat tries to take the stage. Dum Dum shouts, sprays him with water, and hammers him out of sight with a mallet. He pulls the mannequin apart, turns the pieces into a living ballerina, and turns her back into parts. The rival returns. Dum Dum throws him onto the pile, and he climbs out wearing a frock coat mixed with a tutu.
Cast & crew
More about Jack Jags and Dum Dum
Georges Méliès made Tom Tight et Dum Dum for Star Film in 1903 and plays Dum Dum. English titles include Jack Jaggs and Dum Dum and The Rival Music Hall Artistes. A circulating copy runs about two and a half minutes.
Themes
Technique
The transformations use stage machinery and substitution splices: the mannequin becomes a ballerina and then a heap of parts.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- An English catalog summary calls the rival Jack Jaggs, a singer who does a drunken specialty, and has him start a song because he thinks it is his turn.
- Another English blurb, under Jacky Jaggers and Dummy Dum, has the mallet drive the partner partway into the floor so that only his head and trunk show.
- The file title on this site spells the name Jack Jags, with one g. The Star Film English title more often uses Jaggs.
- Méliès himself is Dum Dum.
Scenes
- Dum Dum hammers the rival off the stage with a mallet.
- The mannequin is taken apart, becomes a ballerina, and is turned back into parts.
- The rival climbs out of the pile in a frock coat and a ballet tutu.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Tom Tight et Dum Dum (1903).webm)
