Wonderful Mirrors
About Wonderful Mirrors
A young inventor smears a fluid on his mirror. His reflection steps out of the frame, copies him, and vanishes when he wipes the glass. The servant gets the same treatment and is terrified when his double does stunts. The inventor carries the mirror into the street. A policeman looks in, and his double climbs out for a fight. A man hosing the pavement meets his own double, also holding a hose, and the two soak each other.
More about Wonderful Mirrors
Segundo de Chomón and Ferdinand Zecca directed the Pathé Frères trick film. The French title is Les glaces merveilleuses. English titles include The Magic Mirror. Julienne Mathieu is the named player. Chomón is credited with the photography. The listed running time is 7 minutes.
Themes
Making
A double timed to the actor, plus a join in the mirror frame, sells the walk-out. The camera does not move.
Look
Segundo de Chomón photographed the stops and double exposures that let a second figure leave the mirror.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A print survives. Wikimedia Commons holds Les glaces merveilleuses (1907).
Notes
- The fluid, not a spell spoken on screen, is what lets the reflection leave the glass.
- Julienne Mathieu appears, as she does in the other Chomón Pathé tricks of 1907.
- EOFFTV and Walt Lee's Reference Guide to Fantastic Films both credit Chomón and Zecca.
- A Wikimedia file is titled Les glaces merveilleuses (1907).
- The street gags, the policeman and the hose, continue the same period synopsis that starts in the bedroom.
Scenes
- The inventor's reflection steps through the frame and matches his gestures until the fluid is wiped off.
- On the street, a man and his double turn hoses on each other.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Les glaces merveilleuses (1907).ogv)
