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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 801

Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin

18961 minFrance
Fantasy

Synopsis

A magician places a chair on a newspaper to show that no trapdoor can be concealed beneath it. His assistant sits down and disappears when he removes a covering cloth. Further gestures produce a skeleton in her place before another transformation allows the performers to conclude their apparently impossible demonstration.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
1:19
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Georges Méliès · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsGeorges Méliès

Behind the scenes

Méliès adapts an illusion associated with Buatier de Kolta, replacing the stage mechanism with a camera substitution. The newspaper and theatrical presentation preserve the familiar language of a live magic act while the edit supplies the disappearance.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Georges Méliès — Georges Méliès; Publicity materials for an exhibition at La Caixa Foundation: http://press.lacaixa.es/socialprojects/exhibiton-georges-melies-magic-of-cinema-caixaforum-barcelona-eng__816-c-17952__.html · Public domain
  • Jeanne d'Alcy — Léopold-Émile Reutlinger; DALCY_SIP. 947. Photo Reutlinger · Public domain

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