Les Animated Photos de David Devant (décembre 1897)

Jean-Claude SEGUIN

Depuis le mois d'août 1896, David Devant, le célèbre magicien, a organisé une entreprise afin de distribuer et présenter des films en Grande-Bretagne. Il peut compter, à partir du milieu de l'année 1897 sur plusieurs collaborateurs dont son propre frère, Ernest Wighton. La séance organisée à Bognor a lieu aux Assembly Rooms :

BOGNOR
[...]
Assembly Rooms. The enterprising manager, Mr. E. Wood, is to be congratulated on the success of the various entertainments he has been able to place before the Bognor public at this place. The last but certainly not the least was Mr. David Devant’s animated photos (from Maskelyne and Cooke’s). The photos formed a very beautiful spectacle and the films were skilfully manipulated. The “Fire Brigade call “ was really almost too realistic as the galloping horses appeared about to come right into the audience. We should single this out as the best of the first series, though all were good, whilst in the second series, “A sea cave in Galicia,” the spectator standing in the cave and watching the huge breakers burst into it can only be described by the word lovely. The rainbow sprite was a very fine exhibition of serpentine dancing by Miss Mabel Gray, and Mr. Walter R. Booth’s conjuring was very smartly done, his lightning cartoons deserved their title and the ventriloquial interlude was amusing. We were pleased to see such a good audience.

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Chichester Observer, 22 December 1897, 5.

Les films dont on donne le titre ou le contenu appartiennent essentiellement au catalogue Paul.