Les cent trucs (1906) watch online HD

Even if there only twenty-nine tricks in this trick film from Segundo de Chomon (I may have missed a few), they're pretty good.

Segundo de Chomon was the man whom Pathe Freres used to take Georges Melies' market from him. Melies was a stage magician who devised or learned camera tricks. De Chomon was a cameraman who knew all the camera tricks and hired magicians, dancers and whatever else he needed to outdo Melies. He hadn't done it by 1906, but he was catching up fast and within a couple of years would surpass him. By 1912, Melies gave up; the public was no longer interested in movies that were just about camera tricks; they wanted movies that told story and camera tricks were just a small part of the way they did so.

As a result, this movie doesn't look like one. It looks like a recording of a magic act, which is exactly what it is. It''s also a very good one.