"Diabolical Pickpocket" is a film by the Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomon, and is notable for its clever use of effects. While some effects here were clearly invented by the French filmmaker Georges Melies, Chomon puts these effects into a film that tells a story, while most of the time Melies normally just used these effects to put on a magic show. It's good he's doing this, because in all honesty I think Chomon actually knew how to work with movie magic far better than Melies, in terms of film grammar and such.
The film is about a pickpocket who is magical. This guy can disappear, turn into a stack of bricks, unravel into a carpet, etc. Thus he has no trouble evading the police of Paris, who can never catch him. That's all there is for plot but at least it's not just a lot of special effects in a magic show. This film is one that can still be funny and worth seeing today, especially for younger kids, 5 or 6 years old. If you like silent films, then this one is worth seeing.
(Note: As kekseksa has pointed out, Segundo de Chomon made three pickpocket films around the same time. I've seen two of them. That film that one reviewer was saying he'd seen but didn't know its title is likely "Pickpocket Ne Craint En Pas Les Entraves", the third in the series (he's reviewed the other two in the series). This one I have not yet seen).
The film is about a pickpocket who is magical. This guy can disappear, turn into a stack of bricks, unravel into a carpet, etc. Thus he has no trouble evading the police of Paris, who can never catch him. That's all there is for plot but at least it's not just a lot of special effects in a magic show. This film is one that can still be funny and worth seeing today, especially for younger kids, 5 or 6 years old. If you like silent films, then this one is worth seeing.
(Note: As kekseksa has pointed out, Segundo de Chomon made three pickpocket films around the same time. I've seen two of them. That film that one reviewer was saying he'd seen but didn't know its title is likely "Pickpocket Ne Craint En Pas Les Entraves", the third in the series (he's reviewed the other two in the series). This one I have not yet seen).