The Alchemist’s Hallucination (1897)
by popegrutch
This is another early short trick film by Georges Méliès, which seems to earn a place in the history of horror films. It incorporates supernatural themes and spooky imagery, but appears mainly intended to amuse and evoke wonder at the magic of cinema.
Méliès appears as a bearded and robed magician or alchemist. His dwarf servants show him a grimoire and use a bellows to build up a flame beneath a glass retort then flee the stage. A snake emerges from the furnace and performs some acrobatics, suddenly turning into a green-clad elf or imp. The imp gives the alchemist a wand with a solar symbol on its end, then uses magic to blow the retort up to giant proportions. We see various images inside the retort, most notably a huge spider with a creepy human face. Then smoke pours out of the retort into a bucket that has been placed beneath it. A semi-transparent ghost levitates out of the bucket and dances in air. The alchemist rises from his chair as the ghost disappears, and the beaker suddenly explodes behind him, knocking him to the floor.
Méliès at work in his studio.
This movie is a good example of the magical performances Méliès used the camera to bring to life. The print I watched was beautifully hand-painted, and, while it isn’t perfectly preserved, gave a good idea of how striking and effective his color films were at the time. There are several instances of double-exposures in the film to make the effects appear at the same time as the alchemist. The enlargement of the retort is also an important effect: I have seen references to “The Man with the Rubber Head” (1901) as the first instance of such a magnification (done by moving the camera closer to the object, creating a close-up), but this was done several years earlier, admittedly not with a human body part. Finally, it is fun to speculate what substance the alchemist had invented in order to see these fantastic images!
Alternate Titles: L’hallucination de l’alchimiste, An Hallucinated Alchemist, The Hallucinated Alchemist
Director: Georges Méliès
Camera: unknown
Starring: Georges Méliès
Run Time: 2 Min
I have been unable to find this movie for free online, if you know where it is, please let us know in the comments!
Century Film Project 
Hey there, really like your blog, and I have found it quite useful when researching for my own.
However, I’d like to point out that you are probably confusing The Alchemist’s Hallucination with a much later Méliès film, The Alchemist and the Demon, made in 1906. As you point out many of the effects are way too elaborate for 1897, as is the hand-colourisation – Mélies’ films weren’t colourised in 1897. It’s also too long. In 1897 Méliès – as well as everyone else – was still making one-reelers at about a minute long.
Furthermore, The Alchemist’s Hallucination is a lost film.
Yes, I find that Flicker Alley has this on its Georges Melies: First Cinema Wizard collection listed as “The Mysterious Retort” (1906). Whatever the title, it should be Star Films #874-876.
This post is well over two years old. There’s bound to be some mistakes, in a project this size! Thanks for pointing out the error.
Sure, I always find mistakes in my posts as well! I’m usually happy when they’re pointed out to me though, so I try to do the same when I notice stuff in other blogs, hope you didn’t take offense!
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