This film is included with the "Georges Méliès Encore" DVD from Flicker Alley. And while I appreciate that the folks from this fine company want to be VERY complete, I still marvel that they bothered with this one. Yes, I know some of these films from the master French filmmaker are fragmentary, but this is ridiculous! That's because the clip is only 7 seconds long--during which nothing really occurs! All you see is a heavily made up man (probably Méliès himself--but it's not easy to tell under all that heavy makeup, wig and beard) making goofy faces at the camera and smoking a cigar! That's all there is to it and there is no indication at to what the original film was about and no accompanying audio commentary either. It is what it is and no more. As a result, this one is impossible to score.
5 Reviews
Ceegar Smoooooke
Hitchcoc15 November 2017
It's not really a film so how can one credit it with more than a recognition that it exists. Melies simply draws on a stogie and releases smoke into the air. It's like celebrity's garbage being picked up and held in great esteem. I'm only reporting seeing this because it seems to be included in his works. It even has a title.
The Full Story...at last
Tornado_Sam27 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Georges Méliès directed over 500 films during his career in filmmaking, many of which are now lost. What's more, many are fragmentary in one way or another. "Un Peu de Feu S.V.P." (aka "Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter") is one such film and due to the surviving material being only a three-second clip, it is very impossible to judge. All that can be seen here now is a close shot of Méliès himself, in heavy costuming and makeup, smoking a cigar and making stupid faces. That's all there is to it. While the entire film may never ever turn up at all, I believe I have some info that can at least bring some background on what the English title was supposed to mean.
According to the original Star Film Catalogue description for this Méliès film, the short was originally about an English millionaire who, while visiting France, wishes to smoke a cigar while sightseeing. All he is able to find a single match which won't light, so he asks a few other men passing by for one. They either can't oblige or are selfish (hence the title). However, by the typical Méliès magic, the millionaire is then able to divide himself into two identical men, one of which gives the other a match before they merge back into a single person. Supposedly, the brief surviving fragment of this movie was a final ending shot to the film, although the catalogue description gives no indication that this bit was part of the short.
If anything at all can be said about the surviving footage, it is that one seldom ever sees a medium closeup shot in a Méliès movie. The surviving closeup gives us a perfect look at the millionaire's goofy facial expressions, as well as a great look at the costume. The story, however short it is, is also a nice attempt to add a plot to the visual gag included. I certainly hope the entire movie shows up eventually, because the original could have been very good indeed.
(Note: I know the plot by having downloaded a facsimile PDF file of Méliès's "Complete Catalogue of Genuine and Original 'Star' Films" from RUcore. Since it's a facsimile, the printing is faded and hard to read...but if you download it and zoom in on the writing, you can read descriptions penned by Méliès himself (they are also the narration) for many of his movies, lost, rediscovered and fragmentary. Sadly, some movie descriptions (such as one for the equally fragmentary "Misfortunes of an Explorer") are not included in this catalogue; thus, even today plots for many of Méliès's films are still unknown).
According to the original Star Film Catalogue description for this Méliès film, the short was originally about an English millionaire who, while visiting France, wishes to smoke a cigar while sightseeing. All he is able to find a single match which won't light, so he asks a few other men passing by for one. They either can't oblige or are selfish (hence the title). However, by the typical Méliès magic, the millionaire is then able to divide himself into two identical men, one of which gives the other a match before they merge back into a single person. Supposedly, the brief surviving fragment of this movie was a final ending shot to the film, although the catalogue description gives no indication that this bit was part of the short.
If anything at all can be said about the surviving footage, it is that one seldom ever sees a medium closeup shot in a Méliès movie. The surviving closeup gives us a perfect look at the millionaire's goofy facial expressions, as well as a great look at the costume. The story, however short it is, is also a nice attempt to add a plot to the visual gag included. I certainly hope the entire movie shows up eventually, because the original could have been very good indeed.
(Note: I know the plot by having downloaded a facsimile PDF file of Méliès's "Complete Catalogue of Genuine and Original 'Star' Films" from RUcore. Since it's a facsimile, the printing is faded and hard to read...but if you download it and zoom in on the writing, you can read descriptions penned by Méliès himself (they are also the narration) for many of his movies, lost, rediscovered and fragmentary. Sadly, some movie descriptions (such as one for the equally fragmentary "Misfortunes of an Explorer") are not included in this catalogue; thus, even today plots for many of Méliès's films are still unknown).
Only Fragments Available
Michael_Elliott25 August 2011
Un peu de feu s.v.p. (1904)
aka Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
Sadly this film is only available in fragments and the total running time is just a matter of seconds. Still, it was nice for Flicker Alley to include this on their "Melies Encore" collection just so us die-hards would at least be able to see parts of it. I guess the only thing that can be said about the matter of seconds is that Melies appears under a thick beard and lights up a cigar. I must admit that I'm dying to know what the English title was supposed to mean but I guess we'll have to wait until the full film turns up.
aka Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
Sadly this film is only available in fragments and the total running time is just a matter of seconds. Still, it was nice for Flicker Alley to include this on their "Melies Encore" collection just so us die-hards would at least be able to see parts of it. I guess the only thing that can be said about the matter of seconds is that Melies appears under a thick beard and lights up a cigar. I must admit that I'm dying to know what the English title was supposed to mean but I guess we'll have to wait until the full film turns up.
A little fire, s'il vous plait
Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki30 May 2014
This piece of footage by Méliès, has a total run time of eight seconds, the last five of which are nothing more than a plain, blank, black screen. So this basically amounts to a three seconds-long short film featuring a heavilly bearded man (think ZZ Top, if they parted their beard straight down the middle) inhaling from a cigar, exhaling a thick cloud of obnoxious smoke, he goes all googley-eyes at the camera, the end. Thrilling.
It's not exactly a trial to sit through, nor can anyone say something stupid like "I want those eight seconds of my life back!", but this has to be the least inspired of Méliès work, causing one to wonder, what the hell was the point of this? Was there more footage showing more of Méliès usual trickery, adding a point to this short film, which has been lost for all time? Or was he really bored enough to film someone smoking a cigar for three seconds? Or was it Méliès, in disguise, having himself filmed while smoking a cigar, and for what reason? Even the most die hard Méliès fans will be puzzled by this one. I cannot even honestly give it a score from one to ten, because there is so little to it.
It's not exactly a trial to sit through, nor can anyone say something stupid like "I want those eight seconds of my life back!", but this has to be the least inspired of Méliès work, causing one to wonder, what the hell was the point of this? Was there more footage showing more of Méliès usual trickery, adding a point to this short film, which has been lost for all time? Or was he really bored enough to film someone smoking a cigar for three seconds? Or was it Méliès, in disguise, having himself filmed while smoking a cigar, and for what reason? Even the most die hard Méliès fans will be puzzled by this one. I cannot even honestly give it a score from one to ten, because there is so little to it.
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