(1904)
Dir - Ferdinand Zecca
Overall: GOOD
One of the comparatively lesser known but still pioneering early French filmmakers was Ferdinand Zecca, who was brought up in the theater and cut his teeth acting, stage managing, and doing voice overs for Pathé Frères's phonograph records before making his own films for said company. The Devil's Seven Castles, (Les sept châteaux du diable), is yet another liberal interpretation of the Faust legend, this time depicting a man who signs a contract with the Devil, indulges in the seven deadly sins, and ferries across the River Styx. Also at one point a giant demon head gets fed all kinds of elaborate entrees as well as a full grown man, plus some midgets or children, kind of hard to tell. It is very akin to the work of George Méliès with busy, fantasy-styled sets, hand-painted film prints, and stop tricks and it holds up just as well.
(1907)
Dir - Ferdinand Zecca
Overall: GOOD
An loose adaptation of French composer George Bizet and librettists Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré's Les pêcheurs de perles that at the very least lifts its title from said opera is The Pearl Fisher, (Down in the Deep). It does not seem to be a morality play unless you are stretching to find such meaning as everything seems to work out for all parties involved. The biggest obstacle our carefree main character faces is swimming with a bunch of fish. Instead, it is a simple fantasy where a man lounging on the beach gets beckoned to enter a watery, mystical underworld by a bunch of sea maidens, ending up with a bride and a string of giant pearls at the end. It is essentially just a display of wonderful and elaborate sets and another prime example of the hand-coloring technique used by Pathé film production company, once again handled by director Ferdinand Zecca here.
(1924)
Dir - Abel Gance
Overall: GOOD
Apparently made on a bet, Abel Gance and actor Max Linder's collaboration Au Secours!, (translated to "Help!" in English), was completed in three days and financed entirely by the director. A dark, ultimately harmless comedy revolving around the old set up of a bet to stay one hour in a haunted house, Gance busts out the cinematic tricks of the day including an elevated tracking shot, superimpositions, and morphing the actual film print. Various other amusing visuals are present such as a convincing "wax" figure and a butler who gets his head cut off before walking around with it in his hands. Other things like skeleton costumes, ghosts made up of white bed sheets, (including one on stilts), and random zoo animal footage further the lighthearted insanity. It makes for a fun enough, early spooky castle entry and sort of a way to blow off steam for Gance who would follow it up with the massively ambitious and landmark Napoleon three years later.
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