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Le Raid Paris-Monte-Carlo en automobile
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Le Raid Paris-Monte-Carlo en automobile
An Adventurous Automobile Trip
The explanation of the view which is a representation of an automobile exploit is as follows: King Leopold, of Belgium, has come to Paris to renew his acquaintances among the dainty “Parisiennes” who now, for some time past, have known how to appreciate his great fondness for their society. He ardently desires to make a trip to Monte Carlo, the celebrated watering place and gambling resort in the principality of Monaco, but his time is so limited that he cannot give up the seventeen hours necessary for the trip by express from Paris to the Riviera. He chances to meet, wholly by accident, an automobile manufacturer who makes a proposition to accomplish the journey in three hours, and it is this surprisingly rapid journey which is portrayed by the cinematograph.
1. The Preliminaries.- The automobile manufacturer and his royal companion provide themselves with an ample supply of gasoline. Unfortunately the King is a novice at running a machine, and when he starts out he drives it backwards instead of forwards and runs over a policeman, who, by the passage of the automobile over his body, is flattened out as thin as a sheet of paper. Th august traveler is not disconcerted by so trifling a matter. He takes his pneumatic pump, adjusts it to the body of the crushed man, and with a few vigorous strokes of the handle he succeeds in starting him to swell; but as he has no time to lose, the king sets out leaving the work of pumping up the policeman to his original size to the numerous bystanders, but the latter become so animated in their efforts that they cause the poor unfortunate to explode.
2. King Leopold starts from the Opera House in Paris.-The journey begins in front of the Grand Opera House of Paris. The two travelers, clothed in furs, get into the machine. Numerous friends come to wish them a safe and pleasant journey and to shake hands. Among these friends, the habitués of “Gay Paree” will recognize Mr. Notté, the celebrated singer of the Opera, Mr. Galipaux, one of the best French actors, Mme. Jane Ivon, The Giant Swede in company with Little Titch, finally Mr. de Cottens, the author of the play then running at the Folies-Bergères, the latter is much beloved by Parisian theatre-goers. The automobile starts on its way and is soon out of sight.
3. A Rapid Descent.-In the third scene one sees the automobile descend, at a breakneck speed, a precipitous slope at the bottom of which it knocks over a postman who has remained deaf to the tootings of the danger horn.
4. Scaling the Alps in an Automobile.-In the following scene one observes the automobile pursuing its way over mountains and valleys, ascending the steepest slopes at full speed, penetrating space in its bounds from the summit of one mountain to the other. Suddenly the vehicle climbs an almost perpendicular incline, arrives quickly at the crest, makes a double leap of a most dangerous sort, and lands most happily upon its wheels, only to resume its swift journey, all the while the two automobilists remaining rivetted to their sets, preserving a serene and calm demeanor.
5. The Travelers enter Dijon.-Certain cities of France, notably Dijon, still have town-dues, where everybody who enters the city is forced to pay fees, in order to have admitted combustibles, no matter whether it be charcoal, wood, petroleum, or gasoline. It is not rare to find that interminable discussion often arise between the officers appointed to collect the revenues, and owners of automobiles, who try to profit from the speed of their machines in attempting to escape from the payment of the taxes which they owe, because of the stock of gasoline which they have on board. It is at one of such scenes that the fifth view entertains the spectator. In this view a too zealous officer wishing to stop the machine with his body, is knocked into a thousand pieces by the terrible blow which the rapidly moving automobile deals him.
6. The Mediterranean Coast.-In the sixth scene the auto reaches the coast of the Mediterranean. There, too, it pulverizes, it overturns everything, and an unfortunate fruit-woman sees her oranges thrown to the ground and used as missiles by the crowd of promenaders.
7. A Dangerous Turn.-The seventh scene shows us a dangerous turn of which the auto takes no account, preferring to destroy obstacles rather than to lose any time in navigating about them.
8. Over the Conservatory.-In the eighth view the automobile throws in all directions a pile of wood, shatters a conservatory over which it passes, and falls upon a table around which several diners are seated; then it leaps to the ground and continues its mad course while it produces a general confusion in its flight.
9. A Sorry Meeting with a Wagon Filled with Tar.-Continuing their wild course the travelers have rushed along into the country. They knock against a wagon filled with tar. The force of the shock creates a terrible explosion, which throws the tar over the spectators who flee away, more or less used up by the catastrophe.
10. The Arrival at Monte Carlo.-The tenth and last view shows the magnificent gardens of Monte Carlo, where a bevy of pretty women are waiting for the arrival of the royal traveler and his guide.
Finally the journey is ended. The course has been run in the allotted time, but the speed of the machine is so great, that the king does not succeed in stopping it at the proper time. The auto quickly climbs the stair case of the tribune of honor where are gathered all the dignitaries. Upon reaching the top, it makes a prodigious bound backwards, then comes forward again from the tremendous momentum it has acquired and clears away everything in its path.
The king and his companion are acclaimed by all the spectators, and receive their enthusiastic felicitations upon the magnificent exploit which they have just accomplished so brilliantly.
MEL 1905-A
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1 | Méliès 740-749 | |
2 | Georges Méliès | M. Notté. Félix Galipaux. Jane Ivon. Little Pich. Victor de Cottens. Géant Antonich. Fragson. Maurel. |
Combien nouvelle et inattendue cette course en auto intitulée de Paris à Monte-Carlo en deux heures, réalisée pour le directeur des Folies-Bergère, M. Victor de Cottens ; et quelle hilarité folle ! |
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3 | 1905 | 55 m/185 ft |
4 | France, Paris | |
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01/01/1905
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France, Paris, Folies-Bergère | Georges Méliès | Le Raid Paris-Monte-Carlo |
Quoi de plus ingénieux et de plus amusant encore que la grande suite de scènes cinématographiques qui nous conduit de Paris à Monte-Carlo par la Suisse et l'Italie ? Fragson (déjà vu sous diverses formes) a acheté une auto, et après de touchants adieux, sur la place de l'Opéra, à diverses personnalités fort connues, c'est cette auto que nous voyons, dans ces divers paysages animés, ici renverser un facteur dont les lettres s'éparpillent, là bousculer une auberge tout enfiévrée ensuite à réparer le désordre, plus loin lutter avec une troupe de sergents de ville indignés, ou franchir les montagnes, les neiges et les précipices, toujours au con de sa trompe endiablée... |
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19/08/1905
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États-Unis, New York | The New York Clipper | An Adventurous Automobile Trip |
16/09/1905
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France, Paris, Théâtre Robert-Houdin |
Georges Méliès | Raid Paris-Monte-Carlo |
04/11/1905
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México, Aguascalientes | Barreiro/Toscano | Un viaje en automóvil de París a Montecarlo |
02/04/1906
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Mexique, Mexico | Barreiro/Toscano | Viaje en automóvil de París a Monte-Carlo |
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Viaje en automóvil de París a Monte-Carlo |
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10/12/1906
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Espagne, Vitoria | Rocamora | De París a Monte-Carlo |
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La Vie au grand air, Paris, 12 janvier 1905, p. 26.
MÉLIÈS Georges, "Les Vues cinématographiques", Annuaire général et international de la photographie, Paris, Librairie Plon, 1907, p. 362-392.
Le Raid Paris-Monte-Carlo en automobile (1905, nº 740-749)
De gauche à droite: géant Antonich, Little Pich. A droite: Méliès. Dans la voiture: Fragson et Maurel.
source: Jacques MALTHÊTE et Laurent MANNONI, L'Oeuvre de Georges Méliès, Paris. Éditions de la Martinière, 2008, p. 187