The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head (1900) User Reviews

Three Men and a Little Lady

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 21 July 2012]

From what appears to be a cauldron, filmmaker Georges Melies appears on screen, tips his hat and divides into twins. The pair sit on two stools. The man on the left places a table between the stools and conjures up a living woman's head atop the table. Crawling under the table proves the lady exists as a head only, at least temporarily. Then, the man of the right produces the rest of her body. The thin woman doesn't receive much food from her head. The men vie for a kiss, but a third, more devilishly attired Melies appears and puts an end to the excitement. The original men run away and the last conjurer bows for the audience.

***** L'illusioniste double et la tete vivante (1900) Georges Melies ~ Georges Melies

Three Melieuses

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 11 November 2017]

The use of the split screen produces two men who sit on either side of a little table. On the table is the head of a woman. The woman is acted upon by magic and regains her body. Melies teases his audience. When he is finally left on stage alone, another figure shows up (a regular on his cast). We get another surprise as the curtain falls.

Melies With More Advanced Magic

[CitizenCaine · 7/10 · 23 November 2012]

Here in this film Georges Melies advanced to using two likenesses of himself who end up battling over a female who is conjured from a body-less head, which appears on a table top. The one likeness of Melies crawls around underneath the table with the lady's head above, making it appear as if there is some sort of magic going on to the audience. However, Melies once again uses jump-cuts to good effect. A third likeness of Melies appears in a devilish costume and displays magic superior to the others', causing the scenario to end and the likenesses of Melies to disperse. Melies was not so subtly reminding the audience of the creative force in filmmaking, a force which was new and mysterious to audience members of the time. *** of 4 stars.

Triple Conjurer and the Living Head

[Michael_Elliott · 28 March 2008]

Triple Conjurer And The Living Head, The (1900)

*** (out of 4)

aka L'illusionniste double et la tete vivante

A conjurer enters his room and makes a double of himself and then puts a fake head on a table only to bring it to life. When the head then turns into a beautiful woman the two conjurers battle over her but there's a third one who wants a part of the action. All three conjurers are played by Melies of course and he does another very good job at bringing charm and laughs to the film. the special effects are once again very good and the tricks are done well enough to where you don't even notice the edits. The devil, one of Meiles' favorite characters, makes an appearance as well.

Méliès everywhere

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 July 2015]

This 1900 movie from 115 years ago is basically a magic show that lasts 75 seconds. At that runtime Méliès' work is certainly longer than most other films that were made around this time and it also shows that Méliès is fairly experienced already, made many many films before 1900. Another major difference is that his films tell a story. Seeing him two times, or even three times, may not be spectacular by today's standards, but I can very well imagine that people back then were probably fairly amazed. Just like by the head that becomes a woman. Méliès always loved breathing life in inanimate objects and most audiences around 1900 probably really did not know how he did it as film was still such a revolutionary and new medium. Decent watch all in all, not among the master's best though.

Impressive even when seen today.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 10 September 2020]

"The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head" is one of filmmaker Georges Méliès' better short films. Using double exposures, he's able to make a short and enjoyable film that will likely surprised viewers today with its quality.

When the film begins, Georges Méliès walks onto the stage. Then he separates into TWO of himself. Then he produces a woman's head on a table and it comes to life....and shortly after he makes the rest of her appear. Soon, the Devil arrives and scares everyone away...and he reveals that he is, in fact, another Georges Méliès. Very simple...but very difficult to make back in 1900...and rather cute and enjoyable.