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A Mix-up in the Gallery

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Wikipedia article




'A Mix-up in the Gallery' is a 1906 French short silent comedy film directed by Georges Mlis.

Plot



Production



Mlis, acting in a wig and false beard, appears in the film as the photographer.

The photography studio set, constructed from a painted backdrop and a wooden flat, closely reproduces the typical architecture of a contemporary photographer's studio; Mlis had drawn upon many elements of this architecture, including the use of a shuttered glass ceiling, in designing his film studio. The small statue of a dancer had previously been used in his 1904 film 'The Ballet-Master's Dream', while the lamppost prop was recycled from his 1905 film 'Unexpected Fireworks'. The posters on the outside wall, ostensibly campaigning for political candidates, are in fact private jokes: the candidates' names are given as "Claudel", the name of Mlis's set painter; "L. Micho", i.e. Mlis's cameraman Michaut; and "Salmon", the name of an actor at Mlis's studio.

Close watching of the scene when the camera falls reveals that the prop camera had difficulty fitting through the window: Mlis, in character as the photographer, had to push it. Substitution splices are also in evidence in the film.

Themes



Mlis's characterization of his role reflects a common depiction of professional photographers as mercenary salespeople. The janitor "becoming" a bull is the comic centerpiece of the film, with the staging of the scene designed to parody a bullfight. The chain-reaction of the fall itself also contributes to the comic nature of the film.

With its juxtaposition of artificiality (in the photographer's posed shots) and realism (in the urban action outside), culminating in the comic bullfight in which the two are inextricably blended, the film may be a satirical comment on the naturalistic actuality films made by the Lumire brothers and other early filmmakers. Mlis himself made many actuality films early in his careerall told, 93 films, or 18% of his output, were filmed as actuality materialbut he gradually abandoned the genre in favor of more innovative fiction-based films.

Release and reception



'A Mix-up in the Gallery' was released by Mlis's Star Film Company and is numbered 789790 in its catalogues. The film was deposited at the Library of Congress for American copyright on 21 February 1906.

Brian Jacobson, in a study of early film studio architecture, argues that the film displays a "canny awareness of the changing qualities of modern spaces and materials", including a 'mise en abyme' in which the photography studio stands in for Mlis's own film studio.

References




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