“A woman spies a gang of dwarfs disappearing underground in a forest, and a fairy takes her into their abode where they forge gold. – There’s no director listed for this on IMDB, but it looks somewhat like the work of Gaston Velle or Segundo de Chomón to me. There’s no plot; it’s more like a series of fantastically derived set pieces with the theme of gold tying them together, and it feels something like a factory tour; the woman even gets free samples at the end. The neatest effect is watching the gold being forged to coins, which is basically achieved by creating filming several fake pieces of gold being melted in a pan, and then running that footage backwards. There’s a giant face that spits out gold coins as well as a series of women being offered the gold of their respective nations. The whole thing is nicely hand-tinted as well.”
Dave Sindelar
Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“An artist is in danger of losing his home when he can’t pay the rent. After he sends his female companion out to pawn her jewelry, he is visited by dancing money chests that offer him gold.
It’s a little difficult to make a judgment on this one, as it appears to be incomplete. It’s a fairly big jump from having a man glory in a fantasy about having tons of gold to hanging himself, and I suspect a chunk of plot is missing. It’s also a little on the disappointing side for Chomón; it’s a little too similar to the work of Méliès and lacks Chomón’s individual touch that usually sets it apart; it even has the standard Méliès dancing girls number. Maybe a version that isn’t missing footage would be better; as it is in this form, it’s not essential Chomón.”
Dave Sindelar
Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
THE EARLY SILENT ERA 1895-1915