The Devil and the Statue
About The Devil and the Statue
In a Venetian room with a view of the Grand Canal, Romeo sings to Juliet from a gondola and leaves. The colonnade falls apart and the Devil is there. Juliet calls Romeo back. The Devil bars the window, and Romeo cannot break through. The Devil dances and grows to giant size. Juliet prays to a statue of the Madonna. The statue steps down, shrinks the Devil, and orders him gone, then opens the bars so Romeo can come in.
Cast & crew
More about The Devil and the Statue
Georges Méliès directed, wrote, and plays the Devil. Star Film number 384–385. The French title is Le Diable géant ou le Miracle de la madone. The American titles are The Devil and the Statue and The Gigantic Devil. The short runs 2 minutes. AFI lists an American release in April 1903 through American Mutoscope and Biograph, at 122 or 130 feet. The Méliès catalog describes the Venetian set and the growing Devil.
Themes
Making
Méliès uses a substitution and a scale change so the Devil fills the set, then shrinks when the statue moves.
Technique
The Devil grows to the size of the room and is then reduced by the moving statue.
Preservation
A print is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The set is a Venetian oratory: a bay window on the Grand Canal, a colonnade, and a Madonna at the right.
- The Devil's growth is done as a size change in the room, which the catalog calls a new effect.
- The Madonna both banishes the Devil and unbars the window.
Scenes
- Romeo sings from the gondola and the colonnade then falls.
- The Devil grows until he towers over Juliet.
- The Madonna comes down from the pedestal and opens the bars.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-le-diable-gant-ou-le-miracle-de-la-madonne)
