Le chaudron infernal (1903)

Méliès is the demon Belphegor seated on his throne; the infernal cauldron is bubbling away nearby. One of Satan's helpers brings in a hapless lady. Satan spreads a cloth on the floor and stands the lady on it. This is the traditional means of persuading the audience in the Théâtre Robert-Houdin that there are no traps in the stage. The damsel is gathered up and tossed into the pot. Two more women are similarly dispatched. Veiled whispy spirits rise out of the cauldron. The three spirits hang in midair flailing their feet. They vanish and Satan throws himself into the pot and disappears in a burst of steam. For a forty-five-year-old man Méliès engages in some strenuous acrobatic leaps. (ur Artificially Arranged Scenes. The Films of Georges Méliès av John Frazer 1979)

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