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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 998

The Four Troublesome Heads

18981 minFrance
ComedyFantasy

Synopsis

A magician removes his head, sets it on a table and immediately grows another. Soon several copies of his head are performing alongside him, turning a banjo recital into an unruly argument with himself. The impossible multiplication is played as a precise, mischievous stage routine.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
1:05
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 performs the magician and uses multiple exposure against a dark background to place the detached heads in the same image. The film develops a trick that would recur throughout his screen work.

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 15, 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

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