Jupiter's Thunderballs
About Jupiter's Thunderballs
Jupiter, played by Georges Méliès, meets Mercury in the clouds and tries to throw thunderbolts to raise pedestals for the Muses. The bolts fail. He sends them to Hephaestus, then summons all nine Muses, whose noise drives him to send them back. Mercury and Hephaestus return and make more noise, so he banishes them too. The bolts backfire and he retreats.
Cast & crew
More about Jupiter's Thunderballs
Also titled Jupiter's Thunderbolts, or the Home of the Muses. The French title is Le Tonnerre de Jupiter, Star Film numbers 503–505. The effects are stage machinery, pyrotechnics, and substitution splices.
Themes
Music
Silent.
Notes
- Méliès plays Jupiter.
- The nine Muses are brought on together and then dismissed as a group.
- Hephaestus is called in to repair the bolts and only adds to the noise.
- The last gag is the bolts turning on Jupiter himself.
Scenes
- The thunderbolts fizzle when Jupiter tries to raise the Muses' pedestals.
- The bolts fire back and he leaves the clouds.
