The Melomaniac (1903)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Melies had to be the most imaginative and creative of the early filmmakers as this surreal short shows. The master film magician appears in the role of music teacher who, chancing upon lines of telegraph wires in the country while out with his class, creates lines of music by detaching his head and throwing it up into the wires to form that little dot at the bottom of a music note. A new head instantly appears on his shoulders and Melies throws this one into the wires as well - a trick he repeats until a full line of music is created. We can only wonder where Melies got his ideas from - and why such a creative genius found it impossible to adapt to the increasing sophistication of film-making.

You've just got to see the films of Méliès, as they are the cleverest and best made films of his era--period. Unlike the relatively plot less, setless and pointless films of Edison and Lumiere, Méliès' films were pure genius and inspired--with a strong dose of fantasy. His Le Voyage Dans le Lune is a landmark film due to its amazing special effects, camera tricks and watchability.This film carries on in this same tradition--with the absolutely wildest and strangest trickery I've seen from the era. The film begins with a conductor explaining to his musicians how to write music. So, the conductor begins throwing notes up into the air where they magically stick. And, the notes?! Yep, they are his head--he pulls off his head and throws it upwards--and a new one appears in its place! You just gotta see it to believe it!If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.

This is one of Melies' most unusual shorts in which he portrays a music teacher who is trying to teach his students some harmony by having various heads of his representing notes on a large series of lines above him. I've always wondered how those various heads keep popping up from his body like that. In the documentary film, The Magic of Melies, I found out Georges stops film in camera, covers his head with a black sheet to match the background, then starts film again. Of course, any technical problems are fixed in editing. The way short ends with all those musical head-notes flying around is one of the most awesome sights I've seen in silent movies. By all means, seek The Music Lover out!

'The Melody Maniac' is one of the 'stunt' films of Georges Melies, in which the action is centred upon trick photography. This is one of his best efforts. It's a shame that this movie was shot silent, as music is central to this film's action ... and it would have been amusing to learn if the actors on screen (portraying band musicians) were actually able to play music competently.SPOILERS THROUGHOUT. This entire short film consists of a single camera set-up. Melies himself, in a magnificent uniform, plays the leader of a marching band. We see five parallel wires strung across the top half of the frame, forming a musical staff. With great fanfare, Melies goose-steps in from the left side of the frame, accompanied by his musicians ... all of them tootling furiously. The musicians take their positions. Standing directly under the musical staff, Melies pulls off his own head and throws it upwards so that it catches on the overhead wires. As soon as he loses his head, an identical head conveniently materialises at the end of his neck. (This effect is like one of those boxes of tissues: pull out the top tissue, and another one is conveniently sticking up to take its place.) Melies repeatedly pulls off his own head (a whole series of heads) and tosses them upwards to hang on the music staff. When the staff is full, his musicians play the notes. At this point, all the 'notes' (heads) vanish, and Melies continues the process to fill the staff again.Interestingly, the notes which Melies places on the staff are the opening bars of a real piece of music: namely, the British anthem 'God Save the King' ... or the American melody 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' (same music, different words). The fact that Melies chose an Anglo-American melody, rather than a French one, suggests that he was actively courting the international market for his films. 'The Melody Maniac' is a delight, and I'll rate it 10 out of 10.