Going to Bed with Difficulties

Going To Bed Under Difficulties (1900)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka Le Deshabillage impossible

This film here is pretty much just one gag but what an incredibly looking gag it is. A man gets home and can't wait to go to bed but first he must get undressed but each time he gets a new piece of clothing off a new one comes back on him. We've seen this type of joke from Melies before in the terms of someone trying to get undressed but can't but the joke here is expanded and is done at such a high rate of speed you can't help but just sit there and be amazed at what you're watching. I'm still not quite sure how Melies managed to do all of these magic tricks and the stuff on display here is among the best work of his career.

...although this was made by French filmmaker Georges Melies. Like Chaplin in "One AM", a seemingly inebriated fellow is having difficulty getting ready for bed. But then "One AM" is from 16 years later, so it is much more sophisticated.

Georges Melies plays the only person in this very short film as he attempts to take his clothes off in preparation for going to bed only to have his clothes reappear on his person. In the meantime, hats, coats, and pants begin to pile up about the hotel room.

The ending is lost and supposedly consists of the man rolling about on the floor and on the bed, and finally collapsing.

Some of Melies' stuff can seem repetitive, as though he's a one trick pony, but then you have to remember that most films were just "actualities" at this point - reflections of everyday life - and Melies was a pioneer in putting some narrative into his work, even before the dawn of the twentieth century.

A guy takes of his clothing to get some sleep and as fast as he takes them off more clothing appears on his body. Original idea but dumb.

2/10

This is not the only film like this that Georges Méliès made. Using the same exact techniques, he did the same. What the film consists of is a guy TRYING to take off his clothes, but every time he takes off a set of clothing, a new one, as if by magic, appeared on him! As the film progresses and this has happened MANY times, he becomes progressively more aggrevated. And, when he tries to go to bed..well you can probably guess what happens!

This is a cute little film and pretty good stuff considering it was made in 1900. Of course, to achieve the effect, the camera would be turned off...the man would take off or add a new set of clothes...then the camera would be restarted. But the relatively seamless fashion and sheer number of changes make this one a winner. Quite clever.

Melies gives his audience another variation of his most popular and imitated -- including by him -- story of L'AUBERGE MYSTERIEUSE, as a man tries to get undressed for bed and new clothing keeps reappearing on him, particularly a long series of most unflattering headgear. Melies' comic agitation as he tries harder and harder to prepare for bed is wonderful.

This is one of the many previously lost or infrequently seen Melies pictures that have been made available by Serge Bromberg, David Shepherd and a myriad of other hands in the newly issued DVD set GEORGES MELIES: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA. Required viewing for anyone interested in the history of movies ..... and a lot of fun.