Perhaps efforts like this were a precursor of Melies eventual fate as a filmmaker. The French magician had already made the stupendous Le Voyage dans la lune the previous year, and this stage-bound effort is a definite step backward in terms of both inventiveness and technique. There's no real story to speak of, just a magic trick in which a giant fan is transformed into a group of females for the delight of the King of France. The stop-motion trickery is fairly obvious, but still manages to retain a certain charm missing from today's CGI effects. The print of this film was astonishingly clean and pristine. Probably one for Melies completists only.
Review of The Wonderful Living Fan
