Sur les toits (1897)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
aka On the Roof
Decent Melies short has a couple thieves crawling through the roof where they take the woman inside and throw her off the side of the building. Then, a cop notices them so he too climbs through the roof in order to capture them. If you've never seen a Melies film before then this here might not be the best place to start as there's none of his now legendary tricks or horror elements. Those who have seen everything else from the director, those known as die-hards, will want to check this out for a couple of reasons. One is the painting skyline that takes up the majority of the set as it actually looks pretty good and is well drawn. Another plus is that you have to admit it's rather brutal considering this is 1897. The scene where the woman is thrown off the roof is of course fake and it's obviously so but still.... it's 1897. The story itself really isn't that special and it appears that the director was going for laughs but sadly there really aren't any.