User Reviews

Segundo de Chomón made a lot of very good and creative films. However, he also made a career out of copying the styles and even the films of Georges Méliès--and I am sure Méliès did not particularly care for him nor his works. Some say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but to the great French director it surely felt like Segundo was stealing his ideas.

In "The Enchanted Pong", you see a film which you might assume was one of Georges Méliès' films except for one innovation--the film is set in a natural outdoor location by a pond. As far as all the camera tricks go (such as making people appear and disappear), this is pure Méliès all the way, so the film clearly is lacking originality. However, it does keep your interest and is made well.

By the way, the film I copied (legally) from archive.org said it was a fragment, though it seemed rather complete. At only a little over a minute long, this is pretty normal for 1907 and the story seemed complete.

Apparently a fragment of a longer film, this Segundo De Chomón short is distinguished from his other work only by the fact that it has been shot outdoors rather than on a stage. The photo-trickery is nothing special.

All that is available of this film by Segundo de Chomon is a Pathe-Baby -- a one-minute excerpt of the original intended for the home-projection market, originally released in the 1920s.

It is a simple trick film, in which pretty ladies and some people in frog-like costumes appear and disappear as a young woman goes to the pond to get water. De Chomon was competing against Melies at this stage in the trick-film market, using Pathe's greater resources. The one significant advance is that this was shot outdoors -- Melies almost invariably shot his films in his studio. The performers lack the vivacity typical of Melies and the print was tinted a bright green.

Segundo de Chomon's short film "The Enchanted Pond" is another of his short trick movies. At only a minute long it doesn't stand out among the other trick films made at the same time, but though simple it's still fun. I've read it's only a fragment, so there was probably more to it than what meets the eye. All the tricks were done very well apart from one towards the end, and the print is appropriately tinted green.

Basically, the movie has a maidservant at a pond who performs a variety of tricks. Most of them involve stop-motion, but there is some reverse-motion. Fun for any fan of early cinema who enjoys the trick films of both Melies or Chomon.

(Note: Why is this called "The Enchanted Pond"? The pond barely has anything to do with the movie magic so the title isn't really that fitting at all).