Sur les toits

This comedic short features the antics of a couple of thieves who sneak into a house from the roof. After disposing of the owner, they ransack the place until accosted by a soldier, whom they incapacitate by tying to a chamber pot. Very short and somewhat amusing in a silly, archaic way.

Sur les toits (1897)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka On the Roof

Decent Melies short has a couple thieves crawling through the roof where they take the woman inside and throw her off the side of the building. Then, a cop notices them so he too climbs through the roof in order to capture them. If you've never seen a Melies film before then this here might not be the best place to start as there's none of his now legendary tricks or horror elements. Those who have seen everything else from the director, those known as die-hards, will want to check this out for a couple of reasons. One is the painting skyline that takes up the majority of the set as it actually looks pretty good and is well drawn. Another plus is that you have to admit it's rather brutal considering this is 1897. The scene where the woman is thrown off the roof is of course fake and it's obviously so but still.... it's 1897. The story itself really isn't that special and it appears that the director was going for laughs but sadly there really aren't any.

The classic Keystone image, of the incompetent Kops, in hot pursuit of some villain on their breakaway wagons, waving their billy clubs futilely in the air..... where did it come from? Well, before Sennett made them his own, they were all over the place and while every nation produced a goodly number of rough slapstick comedies -- there are several variations on The Miller and the Chimney Sweep pelting each other with flour and soot from America and the U.K. -- the French and the Italians excelled in them for several years. And here we probably have the origin of the Keystone Kops, sixteen years before Sennet produced THE BANGVILLE POLICE.

It's only a touch over a minute in length and, as the flic is caught among the roof tiles, he gestures most theatrically. I don't doubt it was derived from some theatrical piece and it remains a purely theatrical piece, not the least cinematic. It's not among the best of Melies' pieces, even from this period. But it well may be the first of its kind.

This comedic tale starts with a poor woman thrown out a window. Some idiot cops now take over the scene, running around on expressionistic rooftops. Other than their pratfalls, almost nothing happens. We are privy to no plot development. Even with the limited length and the preciousness of the characters, there is little to recommend it.

Sort of grisly in the way a woman is thrown (presumably to her death) by a pair of burglars who then make an ass of the policeman who tries to apprehend them. Too grisly to be funny, that's for sure...