When I finally got a chance to see this movie, I was just so STUNNED - Doug Fairbanks, our always realistic, down-to-earth (the title of another, QUITE different one of his early movies...) hero of westerns, comedies and swashbucklers, in a completely crazy 'scientific fantasy' that resembles the motion picture experiments of the great Georges Melies in the late 1890s and early 1900s...?!
And yet, there he is, an unsuspecting 'guinea pig' for a mad and evil scientist, who provokes all kind of nightmares and mishaps for him, trying to drive him to commit suicide!! And WHAT special effects the expert crew employed for this really UNIQUE movie - making him 'walk' on the wall and the ceiling trying to escape his nightmares (a trick that's mostly remembered today for being performed by Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding"; in 1951, more than 30 years later!); and of course, giving him the chance to employ ALL his huge acrobatic talent like he did in very few other films... and THAT'S certainly saying something!! Of course, the whole 'nightmare' turns into a pleasant, most enjoyable comedy in due course of time - but then, Doug Fairbanks' movies (almost) ALWAYS have got a happy ending!
So this almost forgotten JEWEL of silent cinema, concerning performances as well as story and effects, shouldn't be missed by ANYONE who's even the slightest bit interested in early cinema - and even those who aren't yet are SURE to TURN fans of early cinema as soon as they'll get a glimpse of this masterpiece!
And yet, there he is, an unsuspecting 'guinea pig' for a mad and evil scientist, who provokes all kind of nightmares and mishaps for him, trying to drive him to commit suicide!! And WHAT special effects the expert crew employed for this really UNIQUE movie - making him 'walk' on the wall and the ceiling trying to escape his nightmares (a trick that's mostly remembered today for being performed by Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding"; in 1951, more than 30 years later!); and of course, giving him the chance to employ ALL his huge acrobatic talent like he did in very few other films... and THAT'S certainly saying something!! Of course, the whole 'nightmare' turns into a pleasant, most enjoyable comedy in due course of time - but then, Doug Fairbanks' movies (almost) ALWAYS have got a happy ending!
So this almost forgotten JEWEL of silent cinema, concerning performances as well as story and effects, shouldn't be missed by ANYONE who's even the slightest bit interested in early cinema - and even those who aren't yet are SURE to TURN fans of early cinema as soon as they'll get a glimpse of this masterpiece!