So, no sooner — literally NO sooner — than I posted my wanted ad for the ten movies still eluding me from my quest to see all the films depicted in Denis Gifford’s Pictorial History of Horror Movies, than a Shadowplayer going by the nom-de-plume of BURNTRETINA alerts me to a Segundo de Chomon movie of that title. The year isn’t quite the same, but as he says, records are unreliable for that period (early 20th century).
It so happens I’ve already gathered up many Chomon movies, but have only watched a delirious few. So I search my stock and Here’s the still from the Gifford ~
The Chomon movie begins in a whole different setting, the “black rocks” of the title, with a sort of cactus-like promontory in the centre. An elderly woman bearing a bundle enters, and meets a lazy man coming the opposite way. A heavily-pantomimed exchange seems to establish that she’d like some help with her burden, but he’s too tired. He stretches, lies down to nap, and as the transforms into a fairly queen and waves her wand, he’s beset with supernatural perils. A stream of water cascades down on him and he writhes about beneath its blast for fourteen long seconds, until we’ve gotten our money’s worth. The rocks transform into monsters and bite at him…
Finally, our hero awakens from this nightmare, only to go back to sleep again. And finds himself staggering perplexed from a crypt, in a snowy graveyard. Now this certainly resembles the setting of Gifford’s still. Both are snowy cemeteries, and the cypress trees (very Isle of the Dead) are identical. But look closer — none of the graves and crypts actually match up, and the character is differently costumed.
Then something very weird happens. There’s a jarring jump cut, and we briefly see a white-robed figure with outstretched arm. But before any detail can be ascertained, and before we can work out how this relates to the previous action (the backdrop is the same, however) we dissolve back to the Black Rocks, where the Fairy Queen appears before the penitent layabout in her Swan Carriage. The End.
Is the subliminal Figure in White one of the skeletal flashers from Gifford’s still? It seems quite likely. But why is the hero differently attired and wigged? If it’s the same character? It looks very much like a chunk is missing from the Chomon, and if so, that chunk would contain the answers. The alternative, that a second film exists, with the same title and an uncannily similar set, is actually very possible — the IMDb has a Ferdinand Zecca movie from 1902 with that title. Gifford dates his film as 1905, and the Chomon is down as 1907, making it slightly closer to Gifford… both are Pathe Freres productions, which is one reason they might resemble each other fairly closely…
For the purposes of my See Reptilicus and Die quest, I’m calling this one seen — but with attendant mysteries. Perhaps more information will emerge at a later time…
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