The Mysterious Box
About The Mysterious Box
In a laboratory, a magician in Renaissance clothes, played by Georges Méliès, and an assistant in a work apron make two chairs, a carpet, and a woman in a peasant dress appear. He lays glass across the chairs and a shallow box on the glass. She steps into the box and vanishes, though the box is too flat to hold her. He sits, shows she is still inside, then jumps in. The assistant follows. The box rolls off by itself. The French title is La Boîte à malice. Britain sold it as The Shallow Trick Box.
Cast & crew
More about The Mysterious Box
Star Film numbered it 458–459. The tricks are substitution splices and multiple exposures. A copy on Wikimedia Commons runs 2 minutes and 12 seconds. Wikidata lists 1 minute.
Themes
Making
Méliès cuts the woman in and out of the flat box with splices, then sends the prop rolling after both men have gone in.
Preservation
The film survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The British title names the trick: the box is too shallow for a person.
- The chairs arrive before the woman does.
- Méliès is the magician, not the assistant.
- The last move is the box leaving on its own, with both men inside.
Scenes
- She steps into the flat box and is gone.
- Méliès and the assistant jump in after her.
- The box rolls off the stage.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (La Boîte à malice (1903).webm)
